Kelly Johnson has been frustrated about his knee. He's a competitor and competitors want to play and they want to make a difference. Well, Kelly Johnson might not be in the starting lineup just yet but he made sure the fans remember his name loud and clear Saturday night.

In the 7th inning the Braves were holding on to a Tim Hudson 5-3 lead. While the bullpen enjoyed the unexpected night off on Friday, Kelly Johnson was ready to play. Coming in as a pinch-hitter Kelly was facing a struggling Jorge Sosa. After giving up a double to McCann, a single to Francoeur and a walk to Martin Prado, Sosa was 1 out from getting out of the inning. But after taking the count to 3-2 to Johnson he was also 1 pitch away from letting the Braves blow the game open. Kelly Johnson took a fastball down the middle and crushed it deep to right field for a pinch-hit grand-slam. The first pinch-hit slam for the Braves since Julio Franco did it in 2005. The fans called for a curtain call and Kelly gave them their desire. The Braves cruised to an 11-5 victory in the first of a NL East showdown between what's considered are 2 of the 3 favorites to win the East.

Hudson went 6 innings giving up 3 runs (all earned) and struck out 4. His ERA after two starts is 3.46.

Peter Moylan had another good outing, and Soriano closed the game in fashion, however, with the score at 11-5 he didn't qualify for a save.

Royce Ring struggled in the 8th giving up 2 hits and 2 runs but the Braves quickly silenced the runs but adding two more of their own in the bottom half of the 8th. With 2 out, Mark Teixeria singled to right, McCann followed with a walk and Jeff Francoeur doubleed on a deep fly ball to right driving in two.

Also on the offense, Kotsay went 2-5, Chipper Jones 3-5 (.478 on the year), Francoeur 3-5 and Gotay came off the bench for his first Atlanta hit.

Next Game: The much anticipated Smoltz vs. Santana start kicks off at 12:30pm Central Time on SportsSouth.

Santana is 1-0 in 1 start and John Smoltz will pitch his first game while coming off the disabled list.

With the win the Braves have moved themselves into a 4th place tie with the Phillies.

NL East Standings as of 9:27pm:

Labels: Atlanta Braves Baseball, Brian McCann, Jeff Francoeur, Kelly Johnson, Mark Kotsay