Lowlighted by a bases-clearing triple against a five-man infield in the Braves’ four-run 8th, Atlanta doubled up Washington 8-4 to hand the Nats their second straight Grapefruit League loss.
Ace Stephen Strasburg breezed through two scoreless innings in his first spring-training start, needing just 15 pitches to get six outs, one by way of the K. He allowed just a one-out single in the 2nd then ended his outing with a 6-4-3 double play.
He was followed by Taylor Jordan, who was knocked for two runs on five hits in his second appearance. The 25-y.o. gave out no free passes and fanned three over his two innings.
A.J. Cole, another Floridian, also appeared for the second time this spring, retiring all six batters he faced with two strikeouts.
Brian Goodwin was the sole prospect in the starting lineup, going 1-for-3 with a doubled while batting ninth and manning centerfield.
Here’s a rundown of how the notable minor-leaguers fared off the bench:
• Steve Souza went 1-for-2 while playing RF in relief of Nate McLouth
• Michael Taylor struck out in his lone AB as the sub for Bryce Harper in LF
• Matt Skole also whiffed in one at-bat, replacing Ryan Zimmerman at 3B
• Eury Perez singled to raise his spring BA to .500 taking over for Goodwin
The Nationals return to Space Coast tomorrow for an afternoon tilt against the split-squad Mets. Gio Gonzalez is expected to make his spring debut. The game can be heard on MLB Radio.