Jair Jurrjens reported no problems with his previously bothersome right oblique muscle after pitching six solid innings for Triple-A Gwinnett against the Norfolk Tides in a rehabilitation outing Monday night.
Now he’s got his wish -- an end in sight. Jurrjens is on track to make his Braves debut on Saturday night against the Mets.
“I felt good,” Jurrjens said. “I didn’t even think about [the oblique muscle]. I just tried to think about the hitters and throw strikes. ... I’m ready to go.”
Jurrjens gave up two runs on four hits, walked two and struck out three to earn the win as the G-Braves beat the Tides 8-3. He threw 81 pitches, 48 for strikes.
He gave up three hard-hit balls: a Nick Green double, long flyout and Nolan Reimold solo home run. Reimold, Norfolk’s cleanup hitter, took advantage of a hanging 2-1 slider for his homer to left in the fourth inning.
Jurrjens gave up a triple on a ground ball down the line that got stuck along the fence in the right field corner. Green’s double was misplayed in the outfield.
Jurrjens appeared to get stronger as the game went on, too, retiring nine in a row to finish his outing. He needed only 12 pitches in a clean fifth inning and 11 in the sixth.
“You’re excited just to be out there again, to be in a real game,” said Jurrjens, who thought he was rushing early on. “You try to pump up and try to do too much. The last three innings I settled down.”
Jurrjens has not pitched in a game for the Braves since last Sept. 14 against the Nationals. He missed the rest of that month and the postseason with a knee injury, which required arthroscopic surgery during the offseason.
“Since we got to the playoffs and I wasn’t able to pitch, I’m really excited to get on the mound and try to help this team and be part of the team again,” Jurrjens said.
Monday night’s game was his first action since March 24, when he had to leave a spring training outing against the Blue Jays after one inning. He pitched a simulated game in Gwinnett last Wednesday.
Jurrjens was pitching in front of only a few hundred fans at Coolray Field on Monday night. At one point, before the start of the fourth inning, Jurrjens had to wait for a young couple to finish getting engaged in first base foul territory before he could take the mound.
Still, he said his adrenaline was high.
“I really tried to take the game really serious,” Jurrjens said. “I know these guys are playing for a ring, too. I didn’t want to just come here and try to work on my stuff and not worry about them. I tried to take this like I’m pitching in the big league and try to win the game.”
Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez and pitching coach Roger McDowell made the trip to Lawrenceville to watch Jurrjens with the Braves off before opening a series with the Marlins on Tuesday night. They were seated four rows up behind home plate in street clothes.
Jurrjens had two less than sterling innings, giving up a run each in the second and fourth innings, but otherwise faced the minimum in the remaining four innings.
