For former Georgia pitcher and current Cincinnati Red Alex Wood, Friday’s 5-2 win over the Braves meant a lot.
Wood got the start and win for just the second time this season. Less than a week ago on July 28, he was activated off the 60-day injured list after dealing with a nagging back issue. He was drafted by the Braves in 2012 and the last time he pitched in Atlanta was on July 28, 2018 when he suited up for the Los Angeles Dodgers.
But on Friday, the seven-year veteran and one-time All-Star pitched 6-⅔ innings, giving up two runs, four hits and striking out five. He started the game with four scoreless innings and it was longest he’s pitched since his return, previously going 5 innings in a 3-2 win over the Colorado Rockies.
“It felt good, that felt like me tonight,” Wood said. “I was happy to throw well against a really good ball club. I felt really excited about tonight.”
Wood threw to catcher Kyle Farmer for the first time in his major-league career. The two both played at Georgia, were roommates and have been friends since 2009. He said that Farmer catches for him in the offseason, but never in a big-league game, even though they’ve talked about doing it for almost six years.
Farmer and Wood were both activated off the injured list at the same time, as Farmer had dealt with a concussion he suffered against the Chicago Cubs on July 16.
All of the circumstances fell into place for this night to be a good one for Wood — and Farmer, who went 2-for-4. Wood’s performance built some optimism from the Reds.
“It’s great for him,” interim manager Freddie Benavides said. “It’s tough when pitchers are on the IL early in the year and they’re trying to come back and they’re trying to do a lot of things … (but) today, I thought he looked like ‘Woody’.”
Wood said he thought he had control of the command on his fastball and that his sinker was good. When those two things are clicking, he said he feels like he can work everything else around.
Farmer said that sometimes when Wood starts he might be missing one pitch he has in his arsenal, but tonight he had everything.
“Alex looked great,” Farmer said. “He went up there and competed like I said he was going to. It was really fun to watch and to see him out there.”
Wood usually expects a decent ovation from the crowd when returning to Atlanta. He said he still talks to and is friends with former teammates like Freddie Freeman and Nick Markakis. But he said he didn’t have time to focus on any sentiments because of how dangerous the Braves’ lineup has been.
Wood left the game pleased with what he did. He played in a game with one of his best friends and finally started to feel like his injuries are in the rear-view mirror.
“For the most part, I felt in control tonight,” Wood said. “Anytime you can feel like that over the course of the game especially against a lineup like that, its a good confidence builder and something to build on moving forward.”
