MILWAUKEE – Roberto Hernandez waited 14 months to get another chance to start a major league game. He’ll only have to wait four days between starts this time.
The Braves said Tuesday that Hernandez would start Thursday’s series finale against the Brewers in Milwaukee. It wasn’t a surprise, considering both his performance Saturday at St. Louis and the fact that the starting rotation is currently a patchwork unit after recent injuries, trades and demotions.
Hernandez, a well-traveled Dominican pitcher who used the bogus name Fausto Carmona when his career began with Cleveland a decade ago, had not started a game since June 2014 before he was brought up from Triple-A Gwinnett by the Braves to make an emergency fill-in start against the Cardinals.
The stocky right-hander, who turns 36 at the end of this month, sweated profusely on a humid night at Busch Stadium, but Hernandez worked five solid innings (six hits, three runs, one walk) and got the decision as the Braves began a three-game winning streak they took into Tuesday night’s game at Milwaukee.
It was the 71st win of his career (71-98) in his 269th game and 218th start for six major league teams.
The Braves started rookie Tyrell Jenkins on Tuesday in his sixth start, and 27-year-old Atlanta rookie Joel De La Cruz will make his fifth start Wednesday.
The Braves could get a few pitchers back off the disabled list and/or back from minor league stints in the next couple of weeks, beginning with John Gant (oblique strain) possibly in about 1 ½ weeks.
