The Atlanta Braves placed Kelly Johnson on the 15-day disabled list Wednesday night after the cleanup hitter left just two pitches into Wednesday night's 5-1 loss to the Reds in Cincinnati.
Johnson, who leads Atlanta with six home runs, suffered a strained right oblique while swinging and missing the first pitch he saw from Reds rookie Raisel Iglesias. He fouled off the second pitch before leaving the game after a brief conversation at the plate with manager Fredi Gonzalez and an Atlanta trainer.
"Johnson's been a guy who can hit behind [Freddie] Freeman against right-handers and give the other manager thoughts about pitching around Freeman,'' Gonzalez said.
Johnson actually started feeling something toward the end of batting practice, he said.
"You always have little things, little pains, where you say, 'What is that?''' he said. "After that first swing and miss, I knew something wasn't right.''
The Braves recalled outfielder Todd Cunningham from Triple-A Gwinnett.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
