Braves starting pitcher Alex Wood has spent several weeks making adjustments to his pitching mechanics in order to find the form that made him a successful starter in 2014. Wood admits he might have finally found that form after throwing 7 1/3 scoreless innings during Sunday's 2-1 win against the Pirates.
"This is my best [start] of the year for sure, just in terms of my fastball command, being able to move it in and out," Wood said, per MLB.com. "Today is how I felt during that long stretch that I put together last year. Hopefully, it will carry over the rest of the year."
Wood tied a season-high with eight strikeouts, while allowing five hits and no walks.
"He was pretty much in control the whole game," Braves catcher A.J. Pierzynski said. "He had all three of his pitches working and he was moving his fastball around. He was ahead in the count. That's what he can do. When he's right, he can dominate lineups. Today you saw a glimpse of what he can do.
"He threw a lot of fastballs in to a lot of their right-handed hitters that backed them up and made them respect both sides of the plate. He had a lot of strikeouts, especially looking at fastballs that were in on the plate because they were looking out over [the plate]."