DUNEDIN, Fla. -- It took 58 at-bats, but Dan Uggla finally hit a home run for the Braves.
The second baseman hit a towering, three-run homer in the sixth inning of the Braves’ 5-3 Grapefruit League win against the Toronto Blue Jays on Thursday.
"He crushed that ball," Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez said of the homer, capping a five-run inning against left-hander Brett Cecil. "That kid was pretty good, too. He's throwing a high fastball, good change-up, good breaking ball. He had us baffled.
“I don’t know if fatigue got him or what. He threw a high [fastball] to Danny, and that’s why he's here. All of a sudden you go from two down to three up with a couple of swings of the bat.”
The Braves traded for Uggla in November and signed him to a five-year, $62 million extension before he suited up. Gonzalez had Uggla on his Florida teams the past four seasons.
Before Uggla's homer, the Braves got singles in the sixth from Joe Mather, Brandon Hicks and Jason Heyward, and Matt Young reached on an error. The Blue Jays led 2-0 before the inning.
Roster shaping up
Outfielder Jordan Schafer and infielder Diory Hernandez were optioned to Triple-A Gwinnett on Thursday along with pitchers Mike Minor, Juan Abreu and Jairo Asencio.
That left 33 players on the camp roster, with eight cuts to be made before opening day.
The Hernandez move increases the likelihood that infielder/outfielder Ed Lucas makes the team, since the Braves need a backup shortstop.
Eric Hinske and David Ross have two bench jobs, and infielder Brooks Conrad could get one based on his performance in late-innings situations last season.
Mather, a corner outfielder/infielder, has a pretty good shot at a bench job despite his poor spring. He is out of minor-league options, and another team likely would claim him if the Braves tried to get him through waivers in order to send him to Triple-A.
The final bullpen spot could come down to Cristhian Martinez or Scott Proctor, who had another rough outing, giving up two runs (one earned) and three hits including a homer in the fourth inning. He has allowed nine hits over his past 3 2/3 innings.
