The exception was a line drive home run to left by Mississippi catcher Ray Serrano in the second inning.
But most of the damage done against Veal came by way of the walks, as has been the case all year during the top Cubs pitching prospect’s struggles.
Veal walked four batters, two of which came in a two-run second inning against Mississippi that saw him throw a wild pitch resulting in a run.
With Veal behind in the count regularly, he was forced to rely on his fastball and throw fewer off-speed pitches.
Veal said afterward he knew Braves hitters were sitting on fastballs.
“I got behind in the count and was missing on the corners, so they were waiting on it,” Veal said.
Of his 90-pitch outing, Veal threw just 11 changeups and 10 breaking balls, said teammate Sean Gallagher, who charted Veal’s performance Sunday.
The southpaw threw 52 strikes, had seven 3-ball counts, and seven at-bats in which he threw four pitches or less.
He threw 12 first-pitch strikes to 19 batters faced.
“Donnie was around the zone, but not in the zone,” Tennessee manager Pat Listach said after the game. “He wasn’t missing by much.”
After allowing three singles in the third inning, Veal left the game following a walk to load the bases. His fastball was consistently 88-91 mph through his two-plus innings. He topped out at 94 mph in the first inning.
Veal got a no-decision as Tennessee rallied from a 4-0 deficit to win, 8-5.