LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. – Alex Wood was near midseason sharpness in his final Grapefruit League start, pitching five strong innings against the Orioles in what the Braves left-hander said was his best outing of the spring.
But in the end the night belonged to roster candidate Joe Benson, who capped a four-hit game with a walkoff single bounced into left with with none out in the ninth inning for a 6-5 win, after singles by Kelly Johnson and Eric Young Jr.
After spending almost the entire spring in minor league camp, Benson was added to the Braves’ non-roster invitee list Thursday and finally got a locker in the major league clubhouse. He homered off Phillies ace Cole Hamels in Benson’s first start Wednesday, then topped that by going 4-for-5 Thursday, the first four-hit game by a Brave this spring.
Wood allowed six hits, one run and no walks with four strikeouts, and left with a 2-1 lead. The Orioles got four quick runs against reliever Chien-Ming Wang to erase the lead at Champion Stadium on a night when the Braves also got an encouraging performance from longtime former Baltimore standout Nick Markakis (2-for-3).
Wood’s next start will be Tuesday against the Marlins in the second game of the regular season.
“I came in the clubhouse today and it felt like it’s almost the season,” said Wood, who recorded 11 outs in his first 12 batters faced, including a first-inning double-play grounder. “It was nice to come in and feel that adrenaline and feel like we’re really close, and it was fun to get out there. It was the first day where I felt like I really commanded everything.”
Half of the six hits against Wood were fifth-inning singles. He gave up a run in the inning before retiring Everth Cabrera on a grounder to second with two on.
“I threw a lot of strikes, but this was the first time where I finally felt my timing was really good and I was commanding all three pitches,” Wood said. “Today I kind of felt like everything came together timing-wise, and I was able to be as consistent as I expect myself to be. It felt good and I’m excited for next week.”
Wang gave up consecutive singles to start the sixth inning and allowed the tying run on a sacrifice fly. Travis Snider had a two-run pinch-hit homer in the seventh inning, and Wang gave up another run on a walk, a stolen base (and Christian Bethancourt throwing error) and single before being replaced.
Wang was charged with five hits, four runs (three earned) and one walk 1 1/3 innings.
