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 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 Matt Hague and gave up a single to Twins No. 14 prospectDaniel Palka. The 23-year-old southpaw escaped the early jam by getting Mitch Garver to ground out to third. 
Box score
"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 Ehire Adrianza and striking out two in the frame. 
"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 Rio Ruiz provided offensive support for Newcomb in the fourth by taking Rochester starter José Berríos deep for a solo shot to extend Gwinnett's lead to 2-0. 
Newcomb was able to work around two more walks to Palka and Ben Paulsen in the fourth to keep his team ahead. Despite issuing free passes to 13 hitters in his first four outings at Triple-A, the University of Hartford product is trying not to worry about it at this point in the campaign. 
"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 Rhiner Cruz (1-1) in the eighth to pull ahead for good.
In his second game for the Braves, 2006 National League MVP Ryan Howard collected an RBI single.