Newcomb bounces back for Braves
In his last start, Sean Newcomb was roughed up by Triple-A Rochester for five runs -- four earned -- in 4 2/3 innings.Going up against the Red Wings again on Tuesday, the fifth-ranked Braves prospect turned in his best start of the season. Newcomb allowed two hits and struck out six
In his last start,
Going up against the Red Wings again on Tuesday, the fifth-ranked Braves prospect turned in his best start of the season. Newcomb allowed two hits and struck out six in five scoreless innings in Gwinnett's 5-4 loss to Rochester.
"I feel like most of the time that situation works in the hitters' favor, facing the same team so quickly," Newcomb said. "Last game, I had the one bad inning where I fell behind batters and made some non-quality pitches that came back to bite me."
Following consecutive strikeouts to open the game, Newcomb issued a walk to
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"Coming into the game, I was working on my tempo and on attacking hitters more and it felt better," Newcomb added. "In the first inning, I could kind of feel like I was letting up a little bit too much. It wasn't like they beat me too much, so I kept the same approach."
Things started to click for Newcomb in the second as the Massachusetts native needed just 10 pitches to retire the side in order. Newcomb kept the Red Wings at bay again in the third, working around a one-out walk to
"I used a lot of fastballs, which is always my strength, so I rolled with that. But I also did a good job mixing things to keep them off of the ball," Newcomb explained.
Braves No. 22 prospect
Newcomb was able to work around two more walks to Palka and
"The walks don't concern me," Newcomb explained. "Sometimes I start trying to pinpoint the spot too much and that doesn't work out in my favor. Whenever I'm kind of flowing and aggressive, my pitches turn out to have more command behind them. I know that the walks will go down as I get more and more comfortable this season."
After spending time with Atlanta at Spring Training in the preseason, Newcomb was assigned to Triple-A for the first time in his career. The 2014 first-round pick has produced a 4.19 ERA and 1.71 WHIP in 19 1/3 innings.
"It's still baseball, so it's the same old stuff but it's definitely a jump up in the level of competition. I feel comfortable here and I know I'm able to compete against these guys, so that feels good," Newcomb said.
Berrios surrendered two runs -- one earned -- on four hits and three walks while striking out 10 over six innings. The 22-year-old sports a 1.44 ERA through four starts in 2017.
The Red Wings scored two runs off
In his second game for the Braves, 2006 National League MVP
Michael Leboff is a contributor to MiLB.com.