Jimenez roughed up for 6 runs, Orioles fall to Braves
SARASOTA, Fla. (AP) — Ubaldo Jimenez allowed six runs while retiring just one batter in the first inning as the Baltimore Orioles lost to the Atlanta Braves 11-4 on Wednesday.
Jimenez, who won 12 games to lead the team in 2015, gave up three hits and walked three before being lifted.
The Braves scored another run off Odrisamer Despaigne in the first and another in the second to take an 8-0 lead.
"He got his pitches in. We were hoping to go get two out of him. He just happened to get his pitch count in in one inning — actually a third of an inning," manager Buck Showalter said.
"The one I'm interested in is his first start in Baltimore. That's when it starts."
Atlanta rookie Mallex Smith had four extra-base hits — two triples in the first, a home run in the fifth and a double in the seventh.
The Orioles scored four runs in the second off Aaron Blair, who is competing for one of Atlanta's final starting spots. Chris Davis hit a long home run to center and Jonathan Schoop had a two-run shot to left.
STARTING TIME
Braves: Blair pitched a perfect first and allowed four runs in the second.
"You want every inning to be like the first inning," Blair said.
He watched while 12 batters came to the first and staked him to a quick 7-0 lead.
"That was a long inning. I think I got up two or three different times to stay stretched," he said.
Davis' home run was hit far beyond the center field fence.
"If I execute my pitch, that doesn't happen," Blair said. "To a guy with that kind of power, that ends up a long, long way away."
Orioles: Jimenez didn't feel badly about his start even though his line wasn't very good. "It doesn't look pretty at all, but I think I feel good because my arm feels really good. I was able to work on the things I wanted to," he said.
TRAINER'S ROOM
Braves: SS Dansby Swanson, the overall No. 1 draft pick last year, who was traded to Atlanta by Arizona along with Blair and OF Ender Inciarte for Shelby Miller, played one day after being ill. He was hitless in five at-bats.
"It's one of those one-day things, and he's fine. I checked him today, and he's good to go," manager Fredi Gonzalez said.
Orioles: OF Nolan Reimold was the designated hitter to rest his sore shoulder. Mark Trumbo played right field.
"With the shoulder he had last year, we're taking it real slow with him, but I want him to get his at-bats. He's throwing and doing some things. I want to get ahead of it. It's an opportunity, and I want them both to get at-bats today. One of them is going to DH and one of them is going to play right field," Showalter said.
Showalter said that RHP Chris Tillman, who missed Sunday's intrasquad game with a strain in his right hip flexor, had a cortisone injection on Tuesday and feels strong enough to start next week.
UP NEXT
Braves: Atlanta and Sean Newcomb host Detroit and Daniel Norris in a matchup of left-handers.
Orioles: Travel to Port Charlotte to play the Rays. Right-handers Miguel Gonzalez and Erasmo Ramirez pitch.