Keuchel goes 7 innings in 2nd Minors start

Dallas Keuchel made his second Minor League start Saturday as part of his preparation to pitch in the Majors for the first time since October with the Astros.

The veteran left-hander took the mound for the Braves' Double-A affiliate in Mississippi and gave up three runs on 11 hits over seven innings, throwing 106 pitches. In his first outing, for Class A Rome on Monday, he tossed seven scoreless innings while allowing one hit, walking one and striking out nine on 77 pitches.

Atlanta signed Keuchel to a one-year, $20 million contract (prorated for the rest of the season to $13 million) on June 7. He and the club will decide whether he will make his Braves debut next weekend against the Nationals in Washington.

Sean Newcomb, who took the mound in Saturday's 6-5 loss to the Phillies in a spot start, was hit in the head with a 102 mph line drive off the bat of the Phillies' J.T. Realmuto and had to exit the game in the third inning.

The addition of Keuchel, the 2015 American League Cy Young Award winner, bolsters a starting rotation that already features Julio Teheran (2.92 ERA in 15 starts) and rookie Mike Soroka, who has dazzled with a 1.92 ERA over his first 11 starts.

Mike Foltynewicz has struggled to a 6.02 ERA over nine starts this season after a brilliant 2018 campaign in which he posted a 2.85 ERA in 31 starts. Max Fried has shown flashes of his potential this season, but has been hit hard over his last four outings, giving up 17 runs over 20 1/3 innings (7.52 ERA).