The Atlanta Braves received bad news earlier this week, as the club learned that Brandon Beachy's elbow injury required Tommy John surgery. On Friday night, the Braves witnessed some good news of their own, as Jair Jurrjens pitched into the eighth inning in Boston, giving up just one run on three hits and a walk, while striking out four, en route to a 4-1 win over the Red Sox.
Needless to say, the Braves, and Jurrjens himself, were quite happy with the performance.
Here's what manager Fredi Gonzalez had to say about Jurrjens' return to the bigs:
He was terrific. He really was terrific. I guess it's a little easier to pitch in the big leagues than it is Triple-A.
I was looking forward to watching him pitch today, and now I'm excited about the way he pitched, and keep going. I mean, this is the J.J. of last year when he was going and made the All-Star team. It's a nice lift.
Jurrjens attributed his success to regaining strength -- something he did in AAA.
It wasn't nothing about focus, I was just lacking strength. Going down there and having me correct and get back to my delivery and get my strength back again. I've been working hard, with the pitching coach, Marty Reed, and the trainer, Matt Parvis. I've been working hard with them every day and you can see the hard work paying off today.
Hopefully for the Braves, it's the first of many quality starts for Jurrjens.
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