Heyward resumes rehab after precautionary scratch
Braves outfielder goes 0-for-3, gets hit by pitch in Triple-A game
MOOSIC, Pa. -- Soreness subsided, Jason Heyward was back in the lineup for the Triple-A Gwinnett Braves on Saturday night.
In his second rehab start since his emergency appendectomy surgery on April 23, Heyward batted second and went 0-for-3 and was hit by a pitch in Gwinnett's 4-3 win over Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.
After his precautionary scratch on Friday, Heyward batted second as the designated hitter. His first at-bat came against Chien-Ming Wang, who led the American League in wins in 2006. He hit a slow roller up the first-base line, and Scranton/Wilkes-Barre first baseman Dan Johnson took it to the bag himself for the out.
He reached base for the second time in his rehab stint in the third, when he was hit by a pitch in the leg from Wang. The pitch struck well below his abdominal area, and he jogged to first base following the play.
Heyward hit the ball hard in his third at-bat, also off Wang. It forced second baseman Corban Joseph to make a fine defensive play, ranging to his right to grab the hot grounder and throw out Heyward at first.
His last at-bat came in the seventh, and he hit a routine ground ball to short, where Addison Maruszak threw him out.
Rain in the northeast Pennsylvania area forced the cancellation of outdoor batting practice, but Heyward hit for approximately 30 minutes in the visitor's indoor batting cage. He hit off a tee before Gwinnett hitting coach Jamie Dismuke mixed in some underhand tosses, as well as some overhand throws.
In his first rehab game on Thursday, Heyward went 0-for-5 with three strikeouts and a walk.