Atlanta Braves starter Reynaldo Lopez left Tuesday night’s 12-0 win over the Washington Nationals due to right shoulder soreness.
Lopez pitched one scoreless inning, allowing a double, hitting a batter, and striking out one. He threw 25 pitches, of which 16 were strikes. His fastball velocity, which was usually around 96 mph, had dropped to 89-94 mph.
He and three relievers held the Nationals, who have lost seven of their past ten games, to three hits.
Lopez will have an MRI on Wednesday.
“We are having him looked at and will make a decision tomorrow,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said. “He’s checking out fine. I talked with him. I just noticed the velocities weren’t excellent, and when I talked to him afterwards, I kind of forced him to admit it, and he wanted to continue. But when he stepped on it, he didn’t feel right.
Lopez stated he was astonished.
“To be honest, I didn’t know what was going on,” he stated through an interpreter. “I felt like the first pitch went out at 95 mph, but when I took it up, it was 89 mph. So that caught me by surprise. That was something I didn’t expect. I was relieved when everything returned to normal and good. I think we’re being unduly careful.”
Lopez, an All-Star right-hander, was making his fourth start after a month on the injured list due to tightness in his right forearm.
He entered Tuesday night’s start with an 8-5 record and a 2.04 ERA.
