Marlins starting pitcher Ricky Nolasco made his final regular start of the spring Friday against the Mets, and he now has just one more tune up start before opening the season April 1 in Washington. Nolasco threw 101 pitches in the game over six innings, allowing just one run on four hits.
"It was good to get to that barrier of more than 90 pitches," Nolasco told MLB.com. "It's not easy doing it for the first time. I had to battle myself a little more on my fastball than I wanted to. I was able to make the pitch with the fastball when I had to. Everything else was OK. It was good to stretch it out and keep the ball down in the zone."
Nolasco walked two batters and struck out five, while lowering his spring ERA to 3.48. He will make just one more start in the spring, and will likely toss just 40 or 50 pitches, to ensure that his arm is at full strength for opening day. Nolasco has 21 strikeouts and just five walks in 20 2/3 Grapefruit League innings.