Glavine sharp again, says he’s ready

ROME — After throwing six scoreless innings and earning a win in his third minor-league rehab start in two weeks, Braves pitcher Tom Glavine pronounced himself ready to return to the major leagues Tuesday night as the 43-year-old veteran turned in a solid outing in Rome’s 3-0 win over the Augusta Green Jackets in front of a sellout crowd of 5,105 at State Mutual Stadium.

“I don’t know what else I can do,” said Glavine, who threw 65 pitches for the low-Class A Rome Braves, 45 of those for strikes. “Physically I felt good and I feel like I’m ready.

“I’d love to get to Atlanta and help the team,” he said. “I’ll go [to Turner Field] tomorrow and prepare to pitch on Sunday, wherever that is.”

Glavine gave up three hits over the first two innings but avoided trouble. After giving up a two-out double in the first and allowing the runner to reach third on a wild pitch, Glavine coaxed a fly ball to center to end the inning.

In the second inning, Rome’s defense helped the veteran when with two outs and runners on first and second, right fielder Luis Sumoza caught a line-drive single on one hop and threw out the Augusta runner trying to score from second.

Over the next four innings, Glavine retired the side in order, needing only 32 pitches. He finished with two strikeouts.

“I felt early in the game I struggled with my mechanics and tempo,” Glavine said, “but as the game went along everything went much better.”

The left-hander has been on the disabled list all season, recovering from August shoulder and elbow surgeries. He suffered a setback April 12 when he re-aggravated his shoulder swinging the bat in a rehab start for Class AA Mississippi.

Glavine was 2-4 with a 5.54 ERA in 13 starts in 2008 for the Braves before season-ending surgery to repair a torn flexor tendon in his left elbow and clean out wear-and-tear damage to the shoulder. He had never been on the DL before last season.

He signed a one-year, $1 million contract that includes up to $3.5 million in bonuses, including $1 million if he makes the active squad.

“When you look at the rotation,” Glavine said about the Braves’ starting pitchers, “there’s not a whole lot of room there. The only logical spot for me is the fifth starter.

“That’s why I don’t see pitching beyond this year.”

Game notes

Glavine’s other rehab starts came at Class AAA Gwinnett where he pitched five scoreless innings and gave up six hits on May 28 and yielding three runs in three innings at Gwinnett on May 23.

Glavine was the second veteran major-league pitcher Augusta has faced in the past month, having had to go up against a former teammate of Glavine, John Smoltz, who faced the Green Jackets when he did a rehab assignment with the Boston Red Sox’s affiliate in Greenville.