Braves RHP Strider allows two runs and five hits against Blue Jays in return from elbow surgery

TORONTO (AP) — Atlanta Braves right-hander Spencer Strider wasn’t looking for a feel-good moment. He wanted a win.

Strider allowed two runs and five hits in five-plus innings in his return to the mound against the Toronto Blue Jays on Wednesday afternoon, but the Braves lost 3-1 to fall eight games below .500 at 5-13.

“My job isn’t to come back and have a moment and all that,” Strider said. “That’s not how I look at it. I’m here to help the team.”

Making his first big league appearance in 376 days because of surgery to repair the ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow, Strider struck out five, walked one and hit a batter. He threw 97 pitches, 58 for strikes.

“He’s extremely important to our club and especially to our rotation,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said. “It’s good to have him back.”

Vladimir Guerrero Jr. had two of the five hits off Strider, including an RBI single in the third inning and a solo home run in the sixth. The homer was Guerrero’s first.

Strider got ahead 0-2 with his first two pitches of the at-bat but couldn’t finish Guerrero off with any of his next five. Guerrero homered into the second deck on a full-count slider, a 412-foot drive.

“For me, didn’t do a good job of executing with two strikes,” Strider said. “Felt like my off-speed didn’t have a lot of conviction, a lot of consistency. That makes it hard to pitch.”

Strider followed the Guerrero homer by walking Anthony Santander. Snitker responded by replacing Strider with left-hander Dylan Lee.

“I think as he’s out there he’s going to get stronger,” Snitker said of Strider. “He’s got some moxie about him and competitiveness. He’s going to be fine.”

Strider struck out Bo Bichette on three pitches to begin the game. He threw his hardest pitch of the afternoon, a 98 mph fastball, to Guerrero in the first.

Strider struck out Myles Straw to strand runners at second and third to end the second.

Bichette doubled to begin the third and Guerrero followed with a ground-ball single to center to drive in the game’s first run.

“To give up the first run, it’s obviously a big momentum swing,” Strider said. “It just kind of puts us in a defensive position, and I don’t want to do that.”

The Braves activated Strider off the injured list Wednesday morning and optioned right-handed reliever Zach Thompson to Triple-A.

Atlanta has gone 5-6 since starting 0-7 and has yet to win back-to-back games. The Braves are 2-11 on the road.

“We’re not in a great position at the moment,” Strider acknowledged. “That’s fine. It’s still early in the season. People want to doubt us, that’s great. Bring it on.”

Strider’s return could give the Braves a big lift. He went 20-5 with a 3.86 ERA in 2023, finishing with a major league-best 281 strikeouts in 186 2/3 innings and placing fourth in NL Cy Young Award voting.

Strider, 26, had last appeared in the majors on April 5, 2024, against the Diamondbacks in Atlanta. He made two starts last season before undergoing surgery.

Strider struck out 13 in 5 1/3 innings in a dominant rehab start at Triple-A last Thursday, allowing one run and three hits. He threw 90 pitches, 62 for strikes, and reached 97 mph with his fastball.

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb

Atlanta Braves starting pitcher Spencer Strider (99) throws to a Toronto Blue Jays batter in the first inning of an interleague baseball game in Toronto, Wednesday, April 16, 2025. (Jon Blacker/The Canadian Press via AP)

Atlanta Braves starting pitcher Spencer Strider (99) throws to a Toronto Blue Jays batter in first inning baseball action in Toronto on Wednesday, April 16, 2025. (Jon Blacker/The Canadian Press via AP)

Atlanta Braves starting pitcher Spencer Strider (99) throws to a Toronto Blue Jays batter in the first inning of an interleague baseball game in Toronto, Wednesday, April 16, 2025. (Jon Blacker/The Canadian Press via AP)

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — Tuomas Iisalo, who was appointed interim coach of the Memphis Grizzlies in the waning days of the regular season, was given the full-time job on Friday and becomes the first Finnish-born coach in the NBA.

The team announced the hiring on Friday but terms of Iisalo’s contract were not released. He joined the Grizzlies as the lead assistant this past season.

Iisalo took over the team on March 28 after the Grizzlies returned home from an 0-5 road trip, the last loss coming at Oklahoma City. The road trip led to the firing of Taylor Jenkins, the winningest coach in Grizzlies franchise history.

“I have full confidence in Tuomas serving as head coach of the Memphis Grizzlies going forward,” Grizzlies president Zach Kleiman said in a statement. “Tuomas’ teams at every level have been disciplined, tenacious and connected on both ends of the floor, consistently exceeding expectations. We look forward to the same in Memphis.”

Iisalo, a native of Finland, was 4-5 in the final nine games of the regular season. Memphis split two games in the play-in tournament, earning the eighth seed and faced Oklahoma City, to whom they lost all four games.

But Iisalo was forced into a tough situation, facing a hard schedule late in the season with little time to make changes. The team only had a few practices under his direction.

“We had 15 games and two practices, and I tried to do my best in those,” he said after the team's elimination.

Later, regarding the frantic pace of the season, he added: “That's a ratio that makes it very difficult. We were in a situation that there were no drastic changes that we needed to make or could be made in that situation.”

Before joining the Grizzlies, Iisalo served one season as coach of Paris Basketball, winning the EuroCup championship. The success earned him EuroCup Coach of the Year. In addition to his season with Paris Basketball, he had stints with teams in Germany, including five seasons with Crailsheim Merlins.

Iisalo played 14 season of professional basketball in Finland.

After this season ended, the short term leadership of Iisalo seemed to gain a vote of confidence from several Grizzlies, including star Ja Morant.

“I feel like Tuomas is a good coach,” Morant said in the team's exit interviews. “For me, going into my film sessions with him and just talking about the game of basketball, seeing and hearing that he sees the same thing I see out there on the floor.

“I wouldn’t say its been surprising, but it’s been very exciting.”

In his postseason exit interview, Iisalo was discussing how he would run the team with the city and organization in mind.

“Every club and every city has their own culture,” Iisalso said. "I think it is very important that you are true to the roots of that city.

"This city is a hard-working city. The club has roots in that. It has to be based on giving everything you have. I've always believed in that.

AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/nba

Memphis Grizzlies interim coach Tuomas Iisalo looks up during the first half in Game 1 of an NBA first-round playoff series against the Oklahoma City Thunder, Sunday, April 20, 2025, in Oklahoma City. (AP Photo/Nate Billings)

Memphis Grizzlies interim head coach Tuomas Iisalo yells during the second half of an NBA play-in tournament basketball game against the Dallas Mavericks, Friday, April 18, 2025, in Memphis, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)

Memphis Grizzlies interim head coach Tuomas Iisalo yells to his players during the first half in Game 4 of an NBA basketball first-round playoff series Saturday, April 26, 2025, in Memphis, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)