WINTER HAVEN, Fla. -- Braves manager Bobby Cox was denied the opportunity to enjoy a combined no-hitter. But he still left Chain of Lakes Park on Wednesday feeling good about what he'd seen from his pitchers, namely Jair Jurrjens.

"He's got a great idea of what he's doing on the mound," Cox said of the 22-year-old right-hander who provided Atlanta three perfect innings. "It's amazing at his age and where he's from. They don't play that much baseball over there."

If comparable, baseball would seemingly be more common in Jurrjens' native Curacao than a no-hitter in any game, even those in Spring Training. But Cox came within an out of seeing one during Wednesday's 4-1 win over the Indians.

With two outs in the ninth inning, Braves right-handed reliever Colter Bean surrendered an RBI single to infielder Danny Sandoval. Sandoval's shot off the right-field wall tarnished a day of mastery for Cox's pitching staff, which surrendered just two walks before the ninth inning.

"Almost, almost," Cox said about the near no-hitter. "Even in Spring Training, it would have been great."

After Jurrjens' perfect outing, Jeff Bennett, Jeff Ridgway, Royce Ring, Francisley Bueno and Jairo Cuevas combined to keep the Indians hitless. The only walks surrendered during that span were charged to Bennett, who was making his Grapefruit League debut, and Ring.

Bean, who has been used as an extra arm during the first few weeks of Spring Training, was well aware of the potential no-hitter when he entered in the ninth inning. At the same time, he had memories of a couple occasions during his early Minor League years when he spoiled some combined no-hit bids.

"Of course you would love to have [a no-hitter] happen," Bean said. "It seems to [go] with my history, I'm good at screwing that up."

Even though the no-hit bid was denied, the Braves left feeling even better about their rotation, which could include Jurrjens in one of the final two spots. Not fighting the same nerves that were present during last week's Grapefruit League debut, he threw 28 of his 39 pitches for strikes and registered two strikeouts.

"He had great location of the heater and he had a changeup," Cox said. "I think he threw one bad breaking ball, and it didn't get hit. He's got three great pitches and outstanding maturity on the mound with control."

Cox definitely isn't comparing Jurrjens to Greg Maddux. But at a young age, the right-handed Jurrjens is showing the same kind of command that Maddux and many other top-flight pitchers have.

After his three innings, Jurrjens said he was pleased with the sharpness of his slider and mentioned he was attempting to pitch to contact because he knows the importance of avoiding the high pitch counts that would force him to make earlier exits during the regular season.

"I felt comfortable," Jurrjens said. "I was pitching my game."

Bennett, who entered camp with the hopes of winning a roster spot, issued just the one walk in his scoreless inning. He is still regaining the strength he lost while sick last week.