B.J. shakes off soreness; Schafer not fully back

ATLANTA -- B.J. Upton's confidence that he would be able to start Wednesday's scheduled game -- after exiting with left forearm muscle spasms on Tuesday night -- was welcome news for the Braves, who may not have utility outfielder Jordan Schafer back to full capacity for a few more days.

Schafer was called into action to leg out an RBI infield single on Tuesday, his first game action in six days since fouling a ball off his right ankle. Pinch-hitting for Kris Medlen in the sixth inning, Schafer sent a sharp comebacker to the mound that hit the foot of Miami reliever Ryan Webb, and the outfielder half-sprinted, half-hobbled to first base as Webb booted the ball into foul territory.

"He tells you that he can probably jog, and then you tell him, 'OK, well then, jog,'" Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez said after Tuesday night's 11-3 win over the Marlins. "And then he hits the ball up the middle and he sniffs a base hit, and the competitive juices take off."

"You don't really want to give those away too often," Schafer said. "It's getting better, it's just taking a little longer than I'd like, but I can walk pretty normal now, I can jog decent, I just can't run. It hurts a little bit when I swing, but maybe we'll get a break the next couple of days and it'll get better."

On Wednesday afternoon, Schafer had not wrapped his right ankle in tape for the first time and was able to pinpoint exactly where the residual effects of his injury were bothering him.

"It's all in my Achilles there," Schafer said. "Once I can get that away, I'll be fine. The soreness is not a big deal, it's that blood sitting on the Achilles is what bothers me. When you try to push off and run, you're kind of pushing against it, and it doesn't really feel any good."

While he admitted that his trip down the first-base line "didn't feel very good," Schafer felt confident he could fill the same role if called upon during the rest of the series.

"Hopefully it's like a clean single and I don't have to run," Schafer said. "Or I can bunt, like a squeeze, that'd be nice. I could just walk back to the dugout."