Braves left-hander Drew Smyly left his start Saturday after four innings because of left knee pain. The Braves defeated the Phillies, 15-3.
Smyly had just escaped a bases-loaded, no-out jam to keep the Phillies scoreless. He walked the first three batters of the inning before inducing a double play from Didi Gregorius and a flyout from Travis Jankowski to finish the outing.
“It just started feeling tight, kind of like a pull, throughout that fourth inning,” Smyly said. “I was able to get through it. Just after talking with the trainers and coaches after that inning, we thought it was best to take it to the house and make sure everything is OK before you do anything worse.”
Manager Brian Snitker didn’t want to speculate, but he didn’t rule out Smyly making his next scheduled start.
“He’ll be looked at tomorrow (Sunday) further and we’ll see,” Snitker said. “It doesn’t hurt or anything. We’ll know more tomorrow.”
Smyly has become an important part of the team’s rotation. He’s overcome a poor start and has been perhaps the team’s most consistent starter lately. Before logging four scoreless Saturday, Smyly had a 2.65 ERA across his previous seven outings. The Braves have won seven of his past eight starts.
