Kris Medlen News

As Anthony Varvaro struggled to grip the baseball while being pelted by rain during the eighth inning at Citi Field on Friday night, Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez had no problem with umpiring crew chief Dale Scott's decision to continue playing through the ugly conditions.

The Good: Over his last 11 games, Daniel Murphy is hitting .432 with six doubles.

As the Braves' top three relievers -- Craig Kimbrel, Jonny Venters and Eric O'Flaherty -- prepared for the start of the 2012 season, they shied away from being referenced as "The Untouchables," a nickname they gained while serving as Major League Baseball's best relief trio the previous season.

As Evan Gattis was rounding the bases, soaking up the cheers from his first grand slam, he noticed the song blaring triumphantly from the speakers at Turner Field.

RHP Brandon Beachy , coming back from Tommy John surgery, will make his first minor league rehab start Friday, pitching four innings for Triple-A Gwinnett against Toledo.

Whether they're a legitimate title contender, hovering around .500 or in the process of a full-blown rebuild, each MLB team faces a number of tough decisions throughout the course of a season.

Jeremy Hefner's next attempt at his first win of the season does not figure to be any easier than the previous eight starts.

MLB Team Report - New York Mets - INSIDE PITCH Almost daily, Mets manager Terry Collins and general manager Sandy Alderson have fielded questions regarding Ike Davis .

Perkins surrendered a pinch-hit homer to Evan Gattis with two outs in the ninth to send the game to extra innings, and the Atlanta Braves pulled out a 5-4 win in the 10th on Freddie Freeman's run-scoring blooper to hand the Twins their seventh straight loss Tuesday night.

Medlen was one of the breakout stars of 2012 but didn't join the Braves rotation until July 31.

The Mets rebounded from an 0-3 start to their road trip by taking three of their last four, including a series win in Chicago, their first series victory since taking two of three from Washington at Citi Field a month ago.

Kris Medlen certainly had reason to be encouraged after limiting the Dodgers to two hits and one unearned run in seven innings of Saturday night's 3-1 win at Turner Field.

Sunday sweep day? The Braves are looking to complete the three-game sweep against the Dodgers on Sunday in Atlanta.

Evan Gattis gets the hero's welcome back to the dugout, following his pinch-hit go-ahead home run against thea SDodgers.

As you probably know the Braves put lefty Eric O'Flaherty on the 15 day DL with a tear of his UCL and called up Cory Rasmus from Gwinnett.

The Dodgers bullpen continues to struggle, and a pair of eighth inning homeruns by Evan Gattis and Andrelton Simmons stopped Kenley Jansen and the Dodgers in their tracks.

A certain trend is becoming increasingly apparent in the early part of the season for Braves right-hander Kris Medlen: home runs.

Justin Upton gave Atlanta the lead with a sixth-inning grand slam and the Braves finally unveiled their full-strength lineup, beating the Los Angeles Dodgers 8-5 on Friday night.

ATLANTA — Braves right fielder Jason Heyward was activated from the disabled list and is starting against the Dodgers on Friday night, giving manager Fredi Gonzalez his full projected lineup for the first time this season.

Matt Magill gets the call in the series finale on Sunday in place of Josh Beckett, who was placed on the disabled list on Wednesday.