Before Friday night's game, Gabe Kapler said that Jerad Eickhoff would "have some rope" in his first start of the season after a long road back from injuries. But there was Kapler, striding to the mound and removing the big right-hander after only 3 1/3 innings of a 10-2 loss to the Atlanta Braves before an announced crowd of 24,306 at Citizens Bank Park.
Eickhoff had given up back-to-back hard-hit balls, including a solo homer by Johan Camargo. Before that, though, he struck out seven consecutive batters and looked like he was developing a rhythm with a fastball-curveball combination.