Foltynewicz better in his third start

The Braves had an encouraging start from Mike Foltynewicz

Mike Foltynewicz had not been very good in his first two starts of the spring. He had allowed four earned runs in 3.1 innings, which did little to erase the pains of the last time he stepped on a field in game five of the NLDS back in October.

His shaky start likely startled fans, some of whom worry the success of Atlanta’s rotation has Foltynewicz as the main wildcard. If the Foltynewicz of the first half of last year is what we’ll see this season, the Braves could be in trouble. But if he pitches like he did after returning from Triple-A Gwinnett, Foltynewicz could be a Cy Young candidate.

Well, Saturday Foltynewicz might have eased the fears a bit. He pitched 3.2 scoreless innings, gave up just one hit, walked two and struck out six. The performance lowered his Grapefruit League ERA to 5.14.

If Foltynewicz can continue his good work the next two-plus weeks, the Braves will feel much better about the rotation entering the season.

The Braves also got a solid 1.1 innings from Grant Dayton, who had struggled mightily in his last two appearances. Dayton’s only blemish was a walk. Mark Melancon continued his perfect spring with a scoreless inning. Melancon has allowed only one hit in three appearances, with no walks and four strikeouts.

A.J. Minter made his spring debut after being slowed a bit in camp. Minter allowed an unearned run in 0.2 innings. Philip Pfeifer then continued his perfect spring with 1.1 innings. Pfeifer has not allowed a run in his six games covering 5.2 innings. And Chad Sobotka pitched another solid innings. The tall right-hander has a 1.93 ERA in his five spring games.

The Braves tied the Rays 1-1. Cristian Pache tripled in the ninth inning and then scored on a sac fly from Yangervis Solarte, but the Braves were unable to break the tie and the game was called.