If it could go wrong for Kris Medlen this season, it has. So maybe Wednesday night shouldn’t have been a huge surprise. But Medlen’s streak of hard luck culminated when he left his start at Turner Field after only two innings after getting hit in the left calf by a low line drive from Toronto’s Emilio Bonifacio.
Medlen limped around for a few minutes behind the mound but stayed in after testing it out with one warm-up pitch in front of manager Fredi Gonzalez and assistant trainer Jim Lovell. Medlen issued a four-pitch walk to the next batter, Munenori Kawasaki, but settled back in with strikes on six of his final nine pitches of the inning.
The calf apparently tightened up between innings because Gonzalez sent reliever David Carpenter out to pitch the third inning. Medlen was diagnosed with a left calf contusion, the Braves announced. He is expected to be fine for his next start.
Medlen gave up three runs in the first two innings but only two especially hard-hit balls for singles by old Braves nemesis Melky Cabrera. Cabrera’s two-run single in the second put the Blue Jays up 3-0. Medlen, who was 1-5 despite a 3.48 ERA this season, was in line for another loss.
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