VIERA, Fla. — After giving up six hits and five runs in 2-2/3 innings of his second start, and throwing 80 pitches in just 3-2/3 innings of a four-walk outing against the Yankees in his third start, Paul Maholm was looking for progress Monday against Washington.
He got it in a big way, allowing just two hits and one walk with five strikeouts in five scoreless innings of a 7-2 win against the Nationals.
“In my last bullpen all of a sudden something felt right, something clicked,” Maholm said. “It’s one of those little timing things for me. In the bullpen today I tried to make sure I stuck with it…. Whenever I get kind of off-balance, my arm’s behind and I just have kind of rush to get it back where it’s supposed to be. That’s what it has been the last couple of outings, so hopefully we figured it out and can keep it going the rest of the time.”
The veteran left-hander allowed only one baserunner in the first four innings and struck out four of the first seven batters while facing a lineup that had most Washington starters including this 1-6: Denard Span, Jayson Werth, Bryce Harper, Ryan Zimmerman, Adam LaRoche and Ian Desmond.
“No matter what lineup you’re facing you want to feel comfortable,” Maholm said. “You want to, at this point of the spring, start getting your pitches pretty close to where they need to be. Both breaking balls were working well today. The few changeups I threw were good, and to have a bunch of groundballs is pretty much what I need.”
Gonzalez said: “He had everything going today against their No. 1 lineup. Had the breaking ball biting, had a nice spin on the breaking ball, had command of his fastball on both sides, threw some changeups – he did a nice job.”
Nationals starter Stephen Strasburg had allowed only one single and one walk until the six-run sixth inning, when the first four Braves got a walk and three singles, including Justin Upton’s two-run single that chased Strasburg from the game. He was charged with four hits, four runs and two walks with five strikeouts in 5-1/3 innings.
Lefty Zach Duke allowed three more hits before getting out of the sixth inning.
Bullpen jobs: Although Cory Gearrin has pretty much assured himself of a spot in the bullpen, there still could be one job available due to Jordan Walden's back injury.
The right-hander made one appearance before being shut down due to a bulging disc. Walden got an epidural last week to relieve pain, but hasn’t pitched since his Feb. 23 debut, when he gave up three hits and four runs in an inning vs. the Yankees.
With just under three weeks before the April 1 season opener, Gonzalez said the Braves think they have enough time to get Walden ready if he starts pitching soon. If he's not ready, they have a couple of other candidates including Anthony Varvaro, who has held opponents scoreless in six of his seven appearances including Monday, when he had two strikeouts and froze Harper with a 3-2 curveball over the plate.
Gearrin had three strikeouts in the seventh inning against Washington and has pitched six scoreless innings with four hits, two walks and nine strikeouts.
Lefty Eric O'Flaherty is recovered from an early spring groin strain and will make his Grapefruit League debut Tuesday with one inning against the Cardinals, Gonzalez said. The Braves have never been worried about O'Flaherty having enough time to get ready for the season….
Julio Teheran starts Tuesday for the Braves against St. Louis' Jake Westbrook.
