NORTH PORT, Fl. - The Atlanta Braves are seeing everything come together.
Just hours after getting news about the health of star outfielder Ronald Acuña Jr's knee - it's only an "irritated meniscus" and he should be fine for Opening Day - the team also saw 2/5ths of their starting rotation put up significantly more than "acceptable" outings for the first week of March.
Spencer Strider and Charlie Morton combined for 6.2 scoreless innings, scattering six hits and three walks while striking out seven as Atlanta took down the Detroit Tigers 3-0.
After the outing, the first of Grapefruit League for Morton, the 40-year-old was mostly pleased with his debut.
"It's good. I don't know, I felt like my arm was working really well today. Command was off, but I feel like it just felt good. So for the first one, I think I'm in a good spot."
Morton's final line was 2.1 innings with two hits, two walks, and three strikeouts. Both walks came in his first inning of work.
While some of the swings weren't the prettiest from the Detroit hitters, Morton was mostly evaluating his progress on how his arm felt. "If my arm feels like the ball has some life into it, with minimal effort, which I feel like I did - nice and free and easy - that's really exciting for me."
Morton followed up Spencer Strider, who continued to flash his curveball to great effect, logging two of his four strikeouts on the breaker.
Rather than talk about his new pitch, Strider had complimentary things to say after the game about Morton's curveball, which is practically iconic at this point.
"Yeah, it's one of the best pitches in baseball, in a number of ways. It's probably similar to my fastball for him, where everybody thinks about it and that's the pitch. When you talk about Charlie Morton, you think curveball."
But Strider's curveball also wasn't bad, with two of his four strikeouts coming on the pitch. In total, Strider went four scoreless innings with four hits, one walk, and two strikeouts.
It was a good day for the Braves all around, as they scored a run in the middle innings (giving Morton the victory) and two more late to eventually walk away with the 3-0 victory.
Even veteran Tyler Matzek, working his way back from Tommy John surgery, got in on the action. He pitched a clean eighth inning, striking out one, to get the hold. Said Snitker of the lefty's inning, "Just good to see his command - you don't expect that," as command is one of the last things to return for a pitcher after Tommy John. "I've been very pleased with his stuff and everything. He's making all the appearances and doing everything. It's good."
Jackson Stephens pitched a scoreless ninth inning to pick up the save.
The Braves have an off day on Wednesday before getting back into Grapefruit League action on Thursday with a trip to Ft. Myers to take on the Boston Red Sox. First pitch is scheduled for 1:05 PM ET, and the game is being broadcast by ESPN.
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