Derek Lowe perfect against Astros

Kissimmee, Fla. — Derek Lowe was untouchable in his outing Tuesday against the Astros — no runs, no hits, no baserunners—in fact, no balls out of the infield. Lowe faced 12 batters and retired them all, six by strikeout and six by groundout in the Braves? 7-4 win over the Astros.

He needed only 57 pitches to get through four innings, and 41 of them were strikes.

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AP

The Braves had to like what they saw from staff ace Derek Lowe Tuesday against the Astros.

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“That’s about as good as I can do it,” Lowe said.

Or anybody, as manager Bobby Cox pointed out.

“That’s about as good as you can humanly pitch,” Cox said. “Six strikeouts, six weak groundballs. Amazing to watch that. With all of his pitches. He had everything rolling.”

Lowe has retired 20 batters in a row, dating back to the first inning of his previous start when he gave up a run on two walks and two wild pitches.

“It’s important to throw strikes,” Lowe said. “That’s what all pitchers are looking for early in spring training. It’s steadily gotten better, and today was a lot better than the previous two.”

Lowe had allowed two runs in his first five innings. On Tuesday he pitched like he was ready for Opening Day, when he’s expected to start against Philadelphia on April 5.

“It’s spring, we’re not going to do cartwheels out of here,” Lowe said. “Forget about it once we leave. Three more spring training starts, just keep trying to get better.”