Soriano, Gonzalez giving Braves relief

BALTIMORE —- Rafael Soriano got a rare night off Saturday, after pitching five times in the previous seven days.

The workload says a lot about how well he has pitched since ulnar-transposition surgery.

“He wants to pitch every night,” manager Bobby Cox said. “His arm finally feels terrific.”

Soriano is eighth among National League relievers with a 1.52 ERA, and he’s third among NL relievers with 37 strikeouts. Opponents are hitting .184 (19-for-103) against him, and he has converted five of six save opportunities.

When asked if he feels like he has two closers at his disposal, the other being left-hander Mike Gonzalez, Cox said, “Yeah, I do, absolutely.”

Twice last week against the Pirates, Cox went with Gonzalez in the eighth inning and Soriano in the ninth. Soriano pitched two scoreless innings in the first of those games, which went extra innings, and got the save in the other.

Soriano then pitched the ninth in a third game of the Pirates series to relieve Javier Vazquez. He took the loss in that game Thursday, breaking a streak of nine consecutive scoreless outings over 10 2/3 innings.

Cox played matchups in those games, in part to get Gonzalez in against the left-hander Adam LaRoche in the eighth. Gonzalez said that’s fine with him.

“I’m all for it, I just want to win,” Gonzalez said. “And Sori feels the same way. We’ve had conversations about it. We’re all for it. I might have felt a little different, but Sori’s got a great arm, he’s a great pitcher, a great guy to have. If I’m Bobby Cox, I’m doing the same thing.”

Smoltz watch

Former Brave John Smoltz pitched his last minor-league rehabilitation assignment Friday night and is gearing up to make his debut for the Red Sox later this week. It could come as early as Wednesday against the Marlins, but the Red Sox haven’t made it official yet.

That would mean Smoltz would miss pitching against the Braves next weekend in Boston.

The Red Sox are off Monday. If Smoltz makes his second start the following night, assuming his surgically-repaired shoulder cooperates, he could face the Braves on June 28 at Turner Field.

Carlyle adjusts

It’s been a week since reliever Buddy Carlyle was diagnosed with Type I diabetes, and he’s still in the process of trying to figure out how to monitor his blood-sugar levels.

Carlyle has had to prick his finger 10 times a day, which is complicated by the fact that he is pricking only fingers on his left hand, so when the time comes, he won’t lose any feel on his pitches. He’s right-handed.

Carlyle has begun playing catch, but it will be a while before he’s ready to pitch again. He has to regain his strength and figure out what will work for him during games.