Braves, Beachy shoot for series win over Phils

Set to make his fourth straight since a return from Tommy John surgery, Brandon Beachy has a chance to hurl the Atlanta Braves to a series victory on Wednesday night in the finale of a three-game series with the Philadelphia Phillies.

Beachy underwent the procedure in late June of last year and returned to MLB action on July 29. He allowed 10 earned runs over his first two starts of the campaign, both no-decisions, before a 5-0 victory over Miami on Friday.

The right-hander scattered three hits and a walk over eight scoreless innings, striking out six to win for the first time since last May 17.

"I commanded my fastball and changeup pretty well," Beachy said. "I still have a lot of room for improvement with the curveball, and especially the slider. Fortunately, I was able to command the other two well enough to where I can get by and continue to work on the others and piece it all together."

Beachy faced the Phillies on Aug. 3 and yielded four runs -- three earned -- over 6 1/3 innings of his club's 5-4 win. That left the 26-year-old winless in eight career meetings with Philadelphia (0-3), despite a solid 3.77 ERA.

John Lannan counters tonight for the Phils and opposed Beachy on Aug. 3. He also did not get a decision, giving up four runs -- two earned -- on four hits and two walks over 4 1/3 innings of work.

He is 9-5 with a 3.24 ERA in 17 career meetings with the Braves.

The 28-year-old southpaw struggled with his command last time out in a loss at Washington on Friday. Lannan was tagged for eight runs on nine hits and five walks over five innings, falling to 3-5 with a 4.81 ERA in 13 starts this season.

After dropping Monday's opener, the NL East-leading Braves rebounded to win a 3-1 decision last night behind Kris Medlen's fourth straight victory. He hurled seven-plus innings of one-run ball, allowing five hits and one walk.

Chris Johnson hit a two-run homer and Justin Upton added a pair of hits as the Braves improved to 3-2 on a nine-game homestand with their 16th victory in the past 18 games.

Atlanta was without second baseman Dan Uggla, who was placed on the disabled list as he will undergo corrective eye surgery.

Uggla's replacement, Tyler Pastornicky, celebrated his call-up by singling to open the second inning and scoring the first run when Medlen hit a double over the head of Darin Ruf in right field with two outs.

"It's tough to see (Uggla) go down. He's one of my good friends," Pastornicky said. "It's definitely a good opportunity for me to come in and get some playing time. I'm excited, I'm anxious. This is what you work for."

Georgia native Ethan Martin was hoping to pitch the Phillies to consecutive wins for the first time since the All-Star break, but ended up taking the loss after yielding three runs over five innings in his third career start and second versus the Braves, the club he grew up rooting for.

"It felt kind of weird being on the field and not in the stands," Martin said. "I thought I was going to be a little more amped up and have butterflies, but it wasn't that bad. I was kind of surprised."

Chase Utley had three of Philadelphia's six hits as the club lost for the 12th time in its last 13 on the road.

The Braves have won seven of 11 versus the Phillies this year, taking two of three at home over Philadelphia to begin the season in April.