The electricity at Turner Field for the Braves' homer-fueled victory over the Royals Tuesday night was briefly interrupted when left-handed relief pitcher Luis Avilan staggered off the mound with an injury.
Avilan clutched his left leg and fell to the ground while starting to deliver a pitch in the ninth inning of Atlanta's 6-3 victory. The Braves said Avilan suffered a hamstring strain and cramping and will be further evaluated on Wednesday.
“Obviously, the way he fell down there it didn't look good,” Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez said shortly after the game.
Avilan, 23, had allowed no runs in four innings of work in four appearances before Tuesday. As a rookie in 2012 Avilan posted a 2.00 ERA in 36 innings with 10 walks and 33 strikeouts.
Atlanta has a deeep bullpen that includes top lefty setup man Eric O'Flaherty but Avilan also has played a key role.
“He’s a huge part of our bullpen, a huge part of our team,” Braves second baseman Dan Uggla said. “And we need him back as fast as possible. You hope it’s just a cramp but from the looks of it, it doesn’t look like that but you still hope.”
O'Flaherty is the only other lefty relief pitcher on Atlanta's active roster. Left-hander Jonny Venters is on the disabled list with an elbow injury and isn't scheduled to throw again for at least another two weeks.
If Avilan is forced to miss games, the Braves could call up left-hander Yohan Flande from Triple-A Gwinnett. Flande normally throws out of the bullpen for the G-Braves but pitched 4 1/3 innings as a starter on Sunday.
The Gwinnett Braves are at home so Flande could quickly get to Turner Field in time for Wednesday's noon game against the Royals if he's needed.
Avilan suffered the injury while pitching to Royals pinch hitter Billy Butler with one out in the ninth. After starting his delivery, Avilan grabbed the hamstring and fell off the mound before planting his left leg.
Braves medical personnel took Avilan off the field on a cart.
“The way he fell down, he couldn't put his foot on the ground, I'm thinking worst-case scenario,” Gonzalez said. “But we'll see. I'll take a cramp right now.”
