Gonzalez kept quiet about injured back

By David O’Brien

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Braves reliever Mike Gonzalez’s back was sore Wednesday, which is what he should have told Bobby Cox when the manager asked if he was ready to pitch.

Fortunately for the Braves, the go-ahead home run that Gonzalez gave up in the eighth inning was rendered a footnote after they scored two runs in the ninth for a 6-5 win against the Mets.

The left-hander called it a lesson learned.

“Bobby said, ‘Are you OK?’ ” Gonzalez said, recalling what Cox asked before the game. “I should have said, ‘It’s sore. Give me one more day.’ ”

Instead, he told Cox he was ready to pitch.

“I want to be out there,” Gonzalez said. “But if you’re not going to help the team, you should go on and take two days and get it right.”

He woke Wednesday with spasms in his lower right back. He has had a similar injury in the past and said he was fine a couple of days later after he rested.

But with the Braves on a winning streak and needing to win almost every remaining game to have any chance of making the playoffs, Gonzalez didn’t want to ask for time off.

When he pitched without telling anyone of the problem, he retired one batter before giving up a homer to pinch-hitter Omir Santos. He then divulged his sore back and was replaced.

It’s not the first time Gonzalez has pitched this season without notifying team trainers or Cox that he was hurt. He tried to finish the first half of the season despite soreness in his surgically repaired elbow.

Gonzalez had to leave the team in Colorado in the last series before the All-Star break to return home for an MRI when his elbow swelled. That was only tendinitis, and he was back after 10 days of rest.

“I’m learning, man,” he said. “I’m 31 years old and still learning.”

The home run Wednesday was the third against Gonzalez in a two-week span, after he went two months without surrendering a long ball.

In his first 22 appearances after the break, he allowed 11 hits and no earned runs in 20-2/3 innings, with nine walks and 24 strikeouts. In his past eight appearances, he has given up seven hits, four earned runs and three homers in 6-2/3 innings, with five walks and five strikeouts.

Beating his old team

The Braves scored their winning run Wednesday when ex-Met Ryan Church hit a grounder that first baseman Dan Murphy mishandled, allowing pinch-runner David Ross to score from second base.

Garret Anderson started the Braves’ rally with a leadoff double off Mets closer Francisco Rodriguez, who then hit Brian McCann with a pitch. Yunel Escobar’s sacrifice bunt advanced both runners, and Adam LaRoche was intentionally walked to load the bases.

After Omar Infante’s sacrifice fly tied it, before Church’s grounder won it.

Chipper, Lowe updates

Third baseman Chipper Jones (groin) was out of the lineup for Thursday’s rain-delayed series finale against the Mets, the fourth consecutive start he has missed. ... Pitcher Derek Lowe left Wednesday’s start after two innings because of a blister on his right ring finger. Cox didn’t know if Lowe would be ready for his next turn Tuesday at New York, and said Kenshin Kawakami would be a likely candidate to replace him.