Braves left fielder Justin Upton was out of the lineup against the Phillies today after he suffered a bruised left triceps in Tuesday night’s game.
Before the game, manager Fredi Gonzalez said Upton had a “better than 50-50 chance” to play but Upton was scratched after warming up and taking some swings. Ryan Doumit took Upton’s place in left field.
The Braves are off Thursday. Upton said he’s confident he’ll be back in the lineup Friday at Miami.
“The day off tomorrow will give it a chance to get some rest and get the swelling down,” Upton said. “Hopefully by Friday, it will be good. Obviously the next day is probably the worst day and then after that, you start getting better and better. Today it was definitely sore but that should dissipate over the next couple days.”
Phillies right-hander Kyle Kendrick hit Upton with a pitch just above the left elbow in the first inning of Tuesdays’ game. Upton stayed in the game but his arm later stiffened up and he was replaced by Doumit in the top of the sixth inning.
After the game Upton implied that Kendrick hit him intentionally. Kendrick also hit Upton with a pitch in the third inning of a game on July 20th at Turner Field. Upton also left that game in the sixth inning.
“I know he’s got hit a couple time by Kendricks, but nobody likes to get hit, especially in a situation where you have a chance to drive in some runs,” Gonzalez said today.
Upton leads the Braves in home runs (26), RBIs (91) and slugging percentage (.515). In 25 games since Aug. 8 Upton is hitting .307 (27 of 88) with seven home runs, 27 home runs and a .398 on-base percentage.
