Sean Newcomb followed an outstanding spring with anything-but in his first regular season start.
The Braves’ young lefty survived 4 1/3 innings, allowing six runs (five earned), walking four and striking out six in a 8-1 loss to the Nationals at SunTrust Park on Monday.
“Just a little hyped up,” Newcomb said. “First start and I did a bad job controlling that.”
The Braves made two errors before registering an out, which amounted to a Nationals run two batters into the night.
Trae Turner had reached on a Freddie Freeman error at first base. Turner advanced to third on Newcomb’s failed pickoff attempt. He scored on Anthony Rendon’s groundout.
Newcomb then walked Bryce Harper and Ryan Zimmerman. Howie Kendrick doubled in another run before Newcomb set down Michael Taylor and Wilmer Difo on strikes.
“Just couldn’t get anything going,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said. “Just really never got an off-speed going. They were hitting it where it was pitched. Just wasn’t real sharp.”
Pedro Severino and Rendon singled in the second before Harper blasted a first-pitch fastball over the center-field wall for a 5-0 lead.
“I was trying to come in more, even in off (the plate)” Newcomb said of the pitch. “It was just middle.”
Newcomb gave up more runs Monday than he had all spring. The 24-year-old posted a 2.35 ERA across five spring starts (four earned runs in 15 1/3 innings).
He had an easier time navigating the Nationals’ lineup when he gained better control of the curveball, Newcomb said, but that didn’t happen often enough.
“I think he was just missing the strike zone by a little bit,” said center fielder Ender Inciarte. “He was not really wild, but once you get behind in the count, they have really good hitters and they were able to score runs just like that. At this level, a lot of hitters try to get in hitters’ counts and take advantage of that.”
Newcomb focused his spring on first-pitch strikes and aggressiveness. He didn’t sway from that mindset, but experienced the worst-case scenario of constantly attacking hitters in the zone.
Still, Newcomb said he’s just going to chalk it up as a poor outing. His next start will come in the high altitude of Denver this weekend.
“It just wasn’t real sharp, but there’s going to be those nights,” Snitker said. “You have to hopefully learn from that that it’s not going to be spot-on all the time. But you still have to make pitches, figure out a way more than anything. He’ll be better the next time. It’s a constant learning experience for him and we’re just going to keep running him out there.”
