Tommy Milone reacts to Braves debut

The Braves acquired Tommy Milone Sunday morning and he was on the mound hours later in Philadelphia

Tommy Milone had a long day. He hopped on a plane in Buffalo early Sunday morning and headed to Philadelphia. He had to not only join a new team, but also make his Braves debut Sunday night against the Phillies.

Milone went from a Baltimore Orioles team in the midst of a rebuild, still lingering around the .500 mark, right into a pennant race.

His new team gave him a 10-run cushion to work with as the Braves scored 10 runs in the second inning. But, unfortunately, Milone could not do what the Braves acquired him to do - eat innings. 

Instead, Milone lasted only 2.1 innings, as the Phillies bounced back to score seven runs on the left-hander on eight hits. Milone did not walk a batter and struck out two.

Chalk it up to a long day, and the Braves can only hope Milone will be better next weekend when he faces his old team, the Washington Nationals, in Atlanta.

The Braves acquired Milone for two players to be named later, two players not in the 60-player pool. He's a free agent at the end of the season, so he's a rental.

With the Orioles, Milone pitched five or more innings four times and six innings twice. The Braves were desperate for starting pitchers to go past the fourth inning.

Milone, signed to a one-year deal by the Orioles in February, was effective in his six starts for the Orioles. He’s 1-4 but with a 3.99 ERA, with 13 earned runs allowed on 33 hits in 29.1 innings, with only four walks and 31 strikeouts.

Last year with the Mariners, in 23 games and six starts, Milone was 4-10 with a 4.76 ERA. He allowed 102 hits in 111 2/3 innings, with 23 walks and 94 strikeouts.

His last solid year as a starter was 2015, when he made 23 starts in 24 appearances for the Twins. Milone was 9-5 with a 3.92 ERA. He had 128 hits allowed in 128 2/3 innings, with 36 walks and 91 strikeouts.

Milone's low walk total is obviously attractive to the Braves. They seem to seek pitchers (like Josh Tomlin and Chris Martin in particular) who do not walk a lot of batters.

Milone, 33, is a 10-year MLB veteran, playing with the Nationals (twice), Athletics, Twins, Mets, Mariners and Orioles. He's 51-51 lifetime with a 4.45 ERA. He's walked 2.2 per nine innings in his career, 1.2 this season.