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Uggla homers in possible final rehab tuneup

ATLANTA -- Braves second baseman Dan Uggla went 2-for-4 with a solo home run on Tuesday night with Triple-A Gwinnett in what is expected to be his final rehab game before he is eligible to return from the 15-day disabled list on Wednesday.

After five hitless at-bats following LASIK surgery on Aug. 16, Uggla broke through with the home run in the fifth inning of his second rehab game, an encouraging sign given his current season-high homerless drought of 17 games and 75 plate appearances.

On Monday, he struck out twice and grounded into an inning-ending double play before being replaced at second at the beginning of the seventh. Uggla had been called out on strikes in Tuesday's first and third innings before driving a pitch from Baltimore right-hander Steve Johnson over the left-field fence. Uggla added a single to left in the seventh inning and was replaced by Phil Gosselin shortly thereafter.

"We'll check with him [Tuesday] evening about coming up," Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez said following the Braves' 2-0 win over the Indians. "He got seven at-bats the last couple of days. His timing is getting better and better. Hopefully, we can get him up here and he can do what he can do."

Uggla hit .186 with 21 home runs and 53 RBIs in 112 games before landing on the disabled list. With 31 games left in the regular season, his 146 strikeouts are 25 shy of his career high for a season, a mark he set in 2008 with the Marlins.

Mark Bowman is a reporter for MLB.com. Eric Single is an associate reporter for MLB.com.
Read More: Atlanta Braves, Dan Uggla