'One pitch' enough for Glasnow in latest strong outing

ATLANTA — It took Tyler Glasnow five pitches to realize he was far from his best Tuesday night at SunTrust Park.

That did not stop him from putting together his most effective outing in the major leagues.

Glasnow's changeup — a pitch he's relied on in recent starts — had very little movement and he wasn't satisfied with his curveball, either. That left him with only his fastball against the Braves.

His start in the Pirates' wild 6-5 loss began with walking Ender Inciarte on five pitches, but the 23-year-old used his two-seam fastball to navigate his way through six innings while allowing two runs.



"Going into the game I only really had one pitch," Glasnow said afterward. "The curveball and changeup weren’t working. The emphasis was on commanding the fastball and trying to get some ground balls. That’s kind of what did it for me tonight."

Glasnow allowed nine hits, including a solo home run by Matt Adams in the sixth inning, but it was the third time in his nine starts this season he had pitched at least six innings. It was also the first time he did so while allowing less than three runs.

More important, Glasnow walked only one batter and 61 of his 91 pitchers were strikes.

It was also the first time this season he issued fewer than two walks, and the first time he threw twice as many strikes than balls. Glasnow had just one three-ball count, and fell behind 2-0 only once.

"It's another step forward for him," Clint Hurdle said.

When trouble did arrive, Glasnow found a way to escape an inning.

After walking Inciarte in the first, Glasnow got Brandon Phillips to ground into a double play. Nick Markakis followed with a double before Glasnow got Matt Kemp to ground out to end the threat. He struck out Rio Ruiz and Braves starting pitcher R.A. Dickey in the second after Kurt Suzuki hit a one-out double.

Adams led off the fourth with a double and scored when Suzuki singled to center. Glasnow, though, struck out Ruiz with a curveball and got two more outs to strand a pair of runners.

Even the most experienced starting pitchers have trouble when one of their better pitches is not effective, but Glasnow kept his composure against a lineup that is producing despite being without first baseman Freddie Freeman.

The Braves stranded six on base and were just 1-for-5 with runners in scoring position against Glasnow. It was in stark contrast to how he had performed in those situations entering Tuesday.

With runners in scoring position against Glasnow, opponents were batting .273 with a .418 on-base percentage and drew 10 walks. His ability to locate his two-seam fastball low in the zone produced weak contact. He induced seven groundouts to two flyouts, and threw first-pitch strikes to 14 of the 26 batters he faced.

"He competed very well," Hurdle said. "I think there were some really good sequences. Didn’t have much of a changeup to work with tonight. ... Continues to grow and develop."

It was a gutsy performance with his ability to navigate through trouble, particularly the fifth inning. The Braves had a runner on first with one out and with Glasnow's pitch count rising, he struck out Matt Kemp and Francisco Cervelli threw out Brandon Phillips at first to end the inning with a double play:



Glasnow showed the type of composure that had eluded him at times during his young career. He allowed at least one hit in every inning, but did what he has been unable to do in most of his outings locate his fastball and keep his approach simple.

He was on pace to earn his third win of the season before the rain delay ended his outing. Yet, it did not overshadow what he accomplished without a reliable breaking pitch against a veteran lineup.

"You just have to feed off your strengths. ... There are some counts you really need your off-speed stuff and it would show every now and again when it wasn't there when I needed it, but I got out of it and I competed," Glasnow said. "I'm happy with it."