Roundup of spring training: Braves blank Twins, Spencer Strider shines

On Monday in North Port, Florida, during spring training, the Atlanta Braves defeated the Minnesota Twins 3-0 with three hits, a home run by Ozzie Albies, and five innings of strikeout ball from Spencer Strider.

Strider (3-0) gave up just two hits, one walk, and one hit batter while striking out almost half of the 19 batters he faced. In the second inning, the Braves’ ace struck out the side. All the run support needed came from Albies’ shot to right as the bottom of the first hitter faced the second. Luis Liberato’s single to center in the ninth inning brought home two more runs.

In four innings, Twins starter Chris Paddack (0-2) allowed one run on six hits, two walks, and two strikeouts. Brooks Lee scored two goals.

Yankees 5, Orioles 3

In Tampa, Florida, host New York defeated Baltimore after a four-run first inning highlighted by a three-run double by Austin Wells. Will Warren(2-0), a minor league prospect for the Yankees, started and finished the first three innings with two strikeouts and one run on three hits and three walks. The only extra-base hit for the Yankees during the game came from Wells’ double; Alex Verdugo and Caleb Durbin each finished with two hits.

In two and a third innings, Orioles starter Julio Teheran (0-1) gave up four runs on three hits and three walks. Despite two runs in the ninth from Donta’ Williams and Connor Norby, Baltimore was unable to overcome a four-run deficit.

Yankees 2, Phillies 1

In Clearwater, Florida, the visiting New York split squad defeated Philadelphia behind a two-run home run by Oscar Gonzalez. In the top of the eighth, Josh VanMeter scored from Gonzalez’s homer to left center after the Yankees got him off waivers from Cleveland this winter. Over three and a half spotless innings, reliever Luis Gil (2-0) struck out eight batters while giving up only one hit and one walk.

On a sacrifice fly in the ninth inning, David Dahl drove home the lone run for the Phillies. Gonzalez’s home run was surrendered by Luis Ortiz (0-2).

Tigers 5, Astros 3

In Palm Beach, Florida, visiting Detroit defeated Houston with two straight two-run singles in the eighth inning from Eddys Leonard and Trei Cruz. Andrew Vasquez (2-0) of the Tigers pitched a flawless inning of relief, striking out two. Justyn-Henry Malloy scored two runs and amassed three of Detroit’s ten hits.

For the Astros, Jose Altuve had two RBI singles. Misael Tamarez (1-2), a reliever, blew the save in two innings by giving up four earned runs on four hits and two walks.

Red Sox 1, Pirates 0

In Fort Myers, Florida, host Boston narrowly defeated Pittsburgh thanks to a groundout by Nick Sogard in the seventh inning, which scored the lone run. After all, both sides managed just five hits. After starting pitcher Cooper Criswell gave up two hits over three and a half innings while striking out four, Cam Booser (1-0) pitched a shutout, hitless seventh.

Starting for the Pirates, Bailey Falter allowed only one hit, one walk, and four strikeouts in three and a third frames. The lone run was given up by Ryder Ryan (0-2).

Blue Jays 9, Rays 2

Tampa Bay was crushed in Port Charlotte, Florida by visiting Toronto thanks to two home runs and an RBI single from Ernie Clement. With 11 hits in total, the Blue Jays jumped out to a 6-0 lead after 2 1/2 innings. Later on, home runs were added by Davis Schneider and Danny Jansen. In three innings, reliever Mitch White (1-0) struck out two batters while giving up two runs on five hits and a walk.

The Rays’ lone run came via a double by Harold Ramirez in the bottom of the third. Zach Eflin (0-2) took the mound and gave up eight hits and four earned runs in four innings, which caused his spring ERA to rise to 12.71.

Nationals 11, Cardinals 4

In Jupiter, Florida, Washington defeated host St. Louis with 10 runs in a row, led by Juan Yepez, who finished with four RBIs. The Nationals scored four runs in the seventh and five runs in the eighth thanks to two-run singles by Yepez. Alex Call, Drew Millas, and Jesse Winker each scored two runs. In the sixth inning, Thaddeus Ward (1-0) pitched flawlessly.

The Cardinals led 4-1 after Paul Goldschmidt’s game-winning double in the fourth inning. JoJo Romero (0-3) was then hit for 4 runs on 5 hits in his lone inning of work.