Albies goes deep from both sides of plate

BRADENTON, Fla. -- Second baseman Ozzie Albies went 2-for-3 Friday afternoon, hitting his first two home runs of the spring -- one from each side of the plate -- against the Pirates as the Braves lost, 12-9.

"He had three balls right on the button, man," manager Brian Snitker said. "The [groundout in the first] was a rocket, too. So it was neat.

"Those are early-count decisions. He's up there on the attack. He's a very aggressive hitter, and he's on the fastball, not missing it, which is a good thing."

The switch-hitter led off the fourth inning batting left-handed and homered to right field off Pirates right-hander Jameson Taillon. It was the first home run Taillon has allowed this spring. Facing left-hander Josh Smoker leading off the sixth, Albies homered to left field from the right side of the plate.

"Right side is pretty good, always has been," Snitker said. "I think he's conscientiously made a lot of adjustments on his left-handed swing. He started doing that when he came up. To his credit, it's pretty good."

Albies is now tied for second on the team in home runs, trailing Ronald Acuna Jr., who has hit three, and Rob Brantly, who brought his total to three with his own two-homer performance.

Albies, who made his big league debut on Aug. 1, hit .286 with six home runs and 28 RBIs in 57 games for the Braves last season.

Maureen Mullen is a contributor to MLB.com.