Atlanta Braves

Kelly Johnson hits RBI single, on fire in first game coming off DL

Published Jun. 11, 2015 5:32 a.m. ET

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Oftentimes, players experience a lull after returning from the disabled list, but Atlanta Braves left fielder Kelly Johnson didn't need a grace period to get back into the swing of things for his club on Wednesday.

Johnson was called up Wednesday by the Braves, who sent down Tuesday night's hero Joey Terdoslavich to make room for him.

While Johnson's performance wasn't nearly as dramatic as Terdoslavich's on Tuesday, he played hero for the Braves by taking advantage of an early scoring opportunity on Wednesday.

In his first-at bat coming of the DL in the bottom of the second with a runner on second, Johnson smacked a ball to right field that put the Braves on the board early, establishing a lead they never relinquished.

Johnson finished the game 3-for-4 with three singles and an RBI.

"It was a good first day," Johnson said. "Obviously it doesn't always work out that way even when you've been playing 20 games in a row; it's just baseball. So it's nice to have that day, but also just the win. The guys pitched great."

However, Johnson's success as the plate was offset by a shaky play in left field that led to a run for the Padres.

"I just had a bad read — shaking off rust everywhere, really," he said.

As he's missed a good portion of the season, Johnson still has under 100 at-bats on the season, which caused his single-fest on Wednesday to boost his batting average up 23 points to .282.

(h/t Atlanta Journal-Constitution)

Photo credit: Scott Cunningham/Getty Images