NORTH PORT, Fla. -- Spencer Strider returned to the mound Monday for the first time in almost a calendar year and threw 2u2154 perfect innings for the Atlanta Braves in their spring training game against the Boston Red Sox, striking out six of the eight batters he faced.
Strider had two three-pitch strikeouts in the first inning, finishing former teammate Vaughn Grissom with a slider and then whipping a 98-mph fastball past the motionless Roman Anthony for strike three. He struck out the side in the second inning, deploying three different pitches to close out the three Boston hitters.