Orioles manager Buck Showalter said as his starting pitchers struggled this spring that he expected them to be ready when the season arrived. Yovani Gallardo, in his final spring start, was the latest to prove him right.

Breaking the narrative for the second straight game, a full-strength lineup was mostly held at bay by former Orioles pitcher Bud Norris. But on the back of strong starting pitching from Gallardo and a three-run second-inning homer by second baseman Jonathan Schoop, the Orioles beat the Atlanta Braves, 6-1, on Thursday to finish the Grapefruit League season 11-15-5.

The offense ended Florida exhibition play with a whimper, but Gallardo is thrilled with the way it wrapped up for him.

On Saturday, he threw 78 pitches in allowing seven runs on eight hits in 32/3?innings, and only 38 were strikes. He said spring results didn't matter much to him then, but couldn't help but smile in reversing that Thursday with a bit of “good timing,” when he threw 28 of his 48 pitches for strikes in five one-hit scoreless innings.

“Anytime you go out there and pitch well, it's always a positive thing — especially the last one,” Gallardo said. “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 pitched so efficiently he had to go to the bullpen to throw an additional 30 pitches to get him around his 80-pitch target. He said he's where he wants to be despite not starting his spring on time.

“It's not an excuse, but I just felt a little bit behind early in camp,” Gallardo said. “Now I feel good. … That's what you want to see leaving spring training.”

Norris made only the one mistake, striking out five and scattering six hits in five innings.

The Orioles broke the game open with a three-run eighth inning off reliever John Gant.

Wilson works three: On the day he found out he had made the Opening Day roster, right-hander Tyler Wilson gave the team three innings of reliable relief. Wilson issued his first walk of the spring and allowed a run on a sacrifice fly in the eighth inning, but he struck out three to finish the spring with a 2.60 ERA.

Small-ball for Wieters: In a lineup of mashers, catcher Matt Wieters seems to be volunteering to play a little small-ball. On Wednesday, he bunted for base hits twice to account for half of the team's four hits. On Thursday, Wieters had his first steal of the exhibition season.

Avery homers again: Nonroster outfielder Xavier Avery raised his spring average to .300 with his third home run of the spring in the eighth inning.

—?Jon Meoli