NORTH PORT, Fla. -- Zack Littell walked into the visitors’ dugout at CoolToday Park on Thursday afternoon, having completed his prescribed five innings of work while throwing only 58 pitches. He looked for pitching coach Kyle Snyder and asked if he could go back to the mound for one more inning.

“It was a hard no,” Littell said, smiling.

That was about the only thing that didn’t go Littell’s way on Thursday. The right-hander, set to be Tampa Bay’s No. 2 or 3 starter, continued his Spring Training with a spectacular outing to start the Rays’ 3-1 win over the Braves.

Littell picked up six strikeouts, didn’t walk anybody and allowed just one hit: a single up the middle by Marcell Ozuna to lead off the second inning. Littell then retired the final 12 hitters he faced in order, giving him 10 scoreless innings across three Grapefruit League starts.

“The whole staff was kind of raving. Good to see one of our key guys go out and just really be efficient, kind of right where he left off from last year,” manager Kevin Cash said. “You're not going to see a better, more efficient spring start, so happy with that.”

“A day like today, obviously, you want to keep going. Everything clicking like it was today, especially in spring, is just not super common,” Littell said. “Very happy with it. I think Snydes would not have let me go out [for another inning] if I was paying him to.”

Littell earned his spot in the rotation by stepping into an injury-depleted rotation last July and posting a 3.38 ERA during an 11-start stretch after that, capping his rise from the waiver wire to the Rays’ starting staff.

Ironically, one perk of having a job secured for essentially the first time in his career was supposed to be that Littell didn’t need to focus on his performance in Spring Training. He’s performed about as well as possible anyway, striking out 10 while allowing six hits and just one walk.

“He's had a really good spring,” Cash said. “He was such a big part of us down the stretch there, and then it seems like that confidence, he's kind of fed off a little bit. Good for him.”

Around the horn

• Late-inning relievers Pete Fairbanks and Colin Poche each pitched a scoreless inning, albeit with a bit of traffic. Both pitchers gave up a hit and walked two batters while striking out one, leading to extended innings.

“They need to feel what it's like to get out there and have a 20, 25-pitch inning, so it probably comes at the right time,” Cash said. “Now, you'd like to see them get on a run where they're feeling really good over the next three or four outings, but that workload is good.”

• The Rays scraped together enough offense to win, with run-scoring hits by Isaac Paredes (off Chris Sale) and Richie Palacios (off lefty reliever Brian Moran) and an RBI groundout by Nick Meyer in the eighth inning. They also struck out 16 times while drawing just one walk. Three of those strikeouts came from catcher René Pinto, who has whiffed in 10 of his 22 spring at-bats.

• Palacios, competing for a spot on the Opening Day roster, got the start in center field on Thursday. The versatile 26-year-old can play all three outfield spots and second base, and the Rays want to make sure he’s comfortable enough in center to back up Jose Siri there if he makes the team. Palacios has played 80 games in center in the Minors and started seven games there in the Majors last year.

Up next
Non-roster right-hander Naoyuki Uwasawa will get the start as the Rays host the Orioles at Charlotte Sports Park on Friday afternoon. Righty Jacob Waguespack, another candidate to claim the spot in the rotation left open by the injured Taj Bradley, is also scheduled to pitch. Relievers Phil Maton, Joe Record and Burch Smith will also take the mound for Tampa Bay.

Right-hander Dean Kremer is scheduled to pitch for Baltimore. The game will air on Bally Sports Sun and MLB.TV. A Rays Radio webcast will be available on MLB.com.