Grant Holmes took the mound against the Orioles, as the Braves stacked their lineup with most of their regular bats.
Holmes had a mixed day on the mound, as he issued 3 walks in 2.2 innings, something Grant has been prone to in his major league career, but striking out 3 and holding the Orioles scoreless during his time on the mound. He also drew a solid 7 whiffs over his 58 pitches. Tyler Kinley and Dylan Lee each worked scoreless innings in relief with a strikeout each and Kinley issuing a walk. Didier Fuentes came into the game in the sixth and opened some eyes hitting 98 with his fastball, and ultimately ending his first inning with a whiff on 98 above the zone. He did get some defensive help from Drake Baldwin, throwing out a runner attempting to steal second who had never been thrown out in his minor league career. Fuentes came back out for the seventh and was even more dominant, striking out the side and topping out at 98.8 MPH on his fastball. Fuentes drew an impressive 7 whiffs in his 25 pitches. James Karinchak continued his dominant spring, allowing a baserunner on a soft grounder that led to some confusion between Riley at third and Gil at shortstop, but striking out 3 in a scoreless eighth.
On the offensive side, the Braves were pretty quiet for the first half of the game. Michael Harris did draw a walk early in the game, as he continues to look more patient and discerning with pitches this spring than he has been so far in his career. The offense broke out in the sixth, as Drake and Olson started the inning with two hard hit outs and then Austin Riley and Mike Yastrzemski went back to back with two solo homers as those two have been hitting the ball well this spring.
Hot prospect John Gil continued to demonstrate his advanced approach, drawing another walk in the eighth. The Orioles were able to tie things up at 2 runs on a bit of a weird sequence in the ninth, giving some Braves prospects a chance to walk things off in the ninth, but the youngsters were unable to muster a baserunner, leaving the game as a tie.
Overall, the Braves generally did what you want to see from a spring game. The bats mostly hit the ball well and the pitchers that are of any relevance looked anywhere from fine to great. We’ll be back tomorrow for another 1:05 PM ET start against the Rays.
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