They blew a lead on some shaky defense in the seventh inning Wednesday and got swept by the Nationals in a two-game series, but the Braves came away feeling better about some things including their No. 2 starter.
Veteran Bud Norris, in his Braves debut, allowed only one runner to reach second base through the first scoreless innings of the Braves’ 3-1 loss to the Nationals.
He ended up charged with three runs, six hits and two walks in seven innings, with all the runs, half the hits and one of the walks (intentional) coming in the seventh inning. Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez was not alone in thinking all three runs charged to Norris should’ve been unearned.
“It was a tough one for us, but we played two real good ballgames against them. We know that’s a good ballclub over there, and we’re going to see plenty of them next week and throughout the course of the year, so it’s really just kind of getting our legs under us, and I’m glad I competed deep in the ballgame. A lot of positives for the club, too.”
Norris, 31, was much sharper than he’d been for most of spring training, when he was 1-3 with a 6.46 ERA in six starts.
And he was a different pitcher than he’d been in a career-worst 2015 season with Baltimore and San Diego, when he battled bronchitis, lost more than 20 pounds, and lost his rotation spot with the Orioles after going 2-7 with a 6.79 ERA in his first 11 starts.
He spent the rest of the season in the bullpen with the Orioles and later the Padres.
In his Wednesday debut for the Braves, Norris relied almost entirely on 82-85 mph sliders and 92-94 mph fastballs, and allowed just one walk and three hits through the first six innings.
“It was a good two-pitch mix,” Norris said. “I threw some changeups that were so-so in my opinion. I used both sides of the plate. (Catcher) A.J. (Pierzynski) has got confident in me to throw fastballs to both sides of the plate. I really got into some of those lefties.
“When you’re executing your fastball like that you’re going to get some outs. I’m just trying to pound the strike zone and get outs early in counts, and let your defense play.”
Ryan Zimmerman was the second National to make it to second base, getting there after a leadoff single in the seventh inning. Two outs later he was at second when Wilson Ramos hit a ground ball that shortstop Erick Aybar fielded behind the base before spinning and making a throw that pulled Freddie Freeman off first base.
Zimmerman raced toward the plate and Freeman made a throw to the right of Pierzynski, but catchable. However, Pierzynski turned too soon to attempt a tag, missing the throw entirely as the tying run scored.
One intentional walk later, pinch-hitter Matt den Dekker hit a two-run double off the base of the center-field wall for a 3-1 Nationals lead.
In Monday’s season opener, Braves starter Julio Teheran limited the Nationals to five hits, two runs and three walks in six innings, and the Braves blew a 3-2 lead in the ninth and lost 4-3 in 10 innings.
“It was nice to get out there and pitch deep in the ballgame,” Norris said. “I wanted to follow from Julio’s lead. That’s what we want to do as a staff, just pass the ball off to the guy. (Matt) Wisler’s going to go out there (Friday) and compete and give us another quality start, as far as I’m concerned.
“We’ve got a good group in this clubhouse. We’ve got a 25-man roster and a couple of guys down there (in the minors) that are going to help us. We’ll get this thing going.”
The Braves are off Thursday before a three-game series against the Cardinals starting Friday at Turner Field.
