Yovani Gallardo on today's outing (Orioles beat Braves)

ORIOLES QUICK WRAP

Score: Orioles 6, Braves 1

Recap: Yovani Gallardo retired 14 of 15 batters, allowing one hit and striking out two. He faced the minimum number due to a double play. Jonathan Schoop hit a three-run homer off former Oriole Bud Norris in the second inning, his fourth of the spring. Tyler Wilson tossed two scoreless innings before Tyler Moore's sacrifice fly in the eighth. Xavier Avery homered in the bottom of the eighth, L.J. Hoes scored Ryan Flaherty with an RBI single and Matt Wieters followed with an RBI double.

Need to know: The Orioles leave Florida with a 11-15-5 record. Gallardo needed only seven pitches to get through the fourth inning. Pedro Alvarez reached on a bunt single against the shift in the second inning. The Orioles are doing it a lot this spring. Wieters stole second base in the fourth inning, one day after twice reaching on bunt singles. Norris is the Braves' No. 2 starter. Today's attendance: 5,441, giving the Orioles a 16-date spring total of 119,029, the second-highest since they moved here in 2010. The 11 sellouts are a franchise record.

On deck: Friday, vs. Phillies in Philadelphia, 6:05 p.m.
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SARASOTA, Fla. - Tyler Wilson has followed Yovani Gallardo's outing today with three innings of one-run ball. The Orioles lead 6-1 in the bottom fo the eighth.

Xavier Avery homered in the eighth, L.J. Hoes had a run-scoring single and Matt Wieters followed with an RBI double.

Tyler Moore lifted a sacrifice fly to center field for the Braves' only run.

Gallardo retired 14 of 15 batters and faced the minimum. He allowed one hit and struck out two in his finest start of the spring.

It's also his last.

"Good timing, I guess," he said. "I've been feeling good. I've been feeling good each and every time I went out there. Obviously, I signed a little bit late. It's not an excuse, but I just felt a little bit behind early in camp. Now I feel good.

"The ball was coming out good, commanding all my pitches, which that's what you want to see leaving spring training."

Gallardo allowed seven runs and eight hits in 3 2/3 innings against the Red Sox in his previous outing, but he never worried about his statistics. Not this time of the year.

"I think the last few starts, I felt really good," he said. "Even the one, the last one I had against Boston, I felt the ball was coming out good.

"I think the difference today, the difference was pounding the strike zone. Last time out, I was falling behind guys and I wasn't able to make quality pitches."

He didn't have that issue today. And it's nice to head north with this one under his belt.

"Of course, anytime you go out there and pitch well, it's always a positive thing," he said. "Especially the last one, it's very important to get that timing, get that rhythm down in the last start of spring training to prepare for the regular season. You've got to be ready. From here on out, there's no excuses."

Gallardo was so efficient, he kept throwing in the bullpen while Tyler Wilson worked three innings.

"I just threw a little bit more pitches," he said. "I think it was another 30 or something like that. I think we were trying to go 80 pitches, close to 80 pitches. I think I threw 48 in five innings and we said five innings or 80 pitches, whichever came first.

"I was able to get some ground balls and get some quick innings, which I think it's a good sign. It's a good sign, for sure."