Sports Page Atlanta

John Smoltz and Rafael Soriano both made their spring debuts on Saturday and neither were overpowering in an 11-10 loss to Tampa Bay.

Smoltz pitched 4.2 innings and gave up 3 earned runs while striking out four and walking two.

“All and all, I’m very satisfied,” said Smoltz, who threw 33 strikes in 46 pitches in four innings, before 12 balls in a 22-pitch fifth. “I threw strikes all day until I didn’t get a couple of close calls and walked those guys.”

Before the fifth, Smoltz had only allowed two singles.

“Smoltz was really good,” said Cox, who replaced him after Carlos Pena’s two-run homer, a fly aided by both the elements and Josh Anderson, the left fielder who leaped and had the ball bounce off his glove and over the fence.

Soriano pitched a complete inning and gave up two hits and didn’t strike out or walk anyone.

Closer Rafael Soriano also made his Grapefruit League debut Saturday, allowing consecutive singles to begin the sixth inning against Tampa Bay before retiring the next three on a popup, line out to right and fly to center.

“Alright for the first time out,” Cox said of Soriano, who had been sidelined by a stomach virus early and a sore pitching elbow lately.

The right-hander threw 16 strikes in 23 pitches, and Cox was pleased Soriano threw hard (94 mph on two pitches) but didn’t try to throw as hard as he could.

This entry was posted on Sunday, March 16th, 2008 at 12:50 pm and is filed under Atlanta Braves. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.