Julio Teheran pitched a pair of scoreless innings, but they did not come without a bit of drama. Teheran had a strong first inning with the only damage coming in the form of a single from Victor Robles. However, he saw himself in a bit of trouble mostly due to a pair of walks. However, the outfield bailed him out as first Ender Inciarte gunned a runner down trying to advance to third on a single. Then, Nick Markakis (yes, Nick Markakis) threw Matt Reynolds out at home who had tagged up at third and the threat was over.
The scoring got started in the bottom of the second. Ronald Acuna recorded his first hit of 2018 with a single. Kurt Suzuki then hit a rocket to the left field wall and Acuna, who was off and running, scored from first and the Braves took a 1-0 lead.
A big part of the Braves’ success in 2018 will hinge on improvement from the Braves bullpen and two of arguably the most important relievers got some action today. Arodys Vizcaino pitched a scoreless inning while giving up a lone hit. AJ Minter got a bit unlucky as a groundball hit an umpire and a high chopper meant back to back hits to start his inning. A quick double play from the next batter started by Dansby Swanson got out of most of the trouble and another chopper fielded cleanly meant Minter was out of the inning.
Anyelo Gomez continued to look good this spring as he pitched a scoreless inning while giving up a broken bat single and recording a strikeout in addition to a wild pitch. The next four relievers (Peter Moylan, Miguel Socolovich, Akeel Morris, Rex Brothers) all allowed just a single hit in their consecutive innings of relief to finish out the game. Moylan and Brothers each got two strikeouts, though Brothers gave up a run on a Moises Sierra solo homer in the top of the ninth. Akeel Morris also danced in and out of trouble, allowed a one-out single and consecutive two-out walks, but struck out former Brave Reid Brignac to end the rally and preserve the lead.
The Braves tacked on a second run in the sixth against the Nats’ Enny Romero, courtesy of a one-out walk, two consecutive wild pitches, and a two-out single by Danny Santana. The Braves would have runners at the corners after Jaff Decker singled later in the frame, but Christian Colon popped out to end the threat.
Ozzie Albies and Suzuki each collected two hits, with Suzuki grabbing the only extra-base hit for the afternoon for the Braves. Preston Tucker walked twice after entering the game as a replacement for Markakis.
The Pirates come to town next, with Mike Foltynewicz set to make his first Grapefruit League start of the year.