• Moylan thrilled by Braves call up.
• Stockman continues his scoreless innings streak with the Braves
• Travis Blackley gets first start since ‘04
• Snelling expected to make early recovery.
• Oeltjen off to hot start at Double-A New Britain
• At a Glance - 13th April
• Not quite a ‘cup-of coffee’

MOYLAN THRILLED BY BRAVES CALLUP

Aussie reliever has taken roundabout road to reach Majors

Mark Bowman, MLB.com – 12 April

ATLANTA -- Four months ago, while he and his Blackburn Orioles teammates were preparing for games in a dressing shed, there was no reason for Peter Moylan to believe there'd soon be a day where he'd be dressing in a big-league clubhouse. There was a better chance he'd first see kangaroos flying over one of those Australian ball fields that he and his teammates were using. But four months and the realization that his right arm was now producing 96-mph fastballs later, Moylan finds his name above one of those pristine lockers in a big-league clubhouse. "It just goes to show you, no matter what you're doing or where you are, there's a chance," said the 27-year-old Moylan, who the Braves promoted from Triple-A Richmond to fill a spot in their bullpen.

When Moylan was told of the promotion after Monday night's game in Richmond, he immediately called his wife, who is still back in Melbourne. Soon after, the excited right-hander was sending e-mails and instant messages to many of his Australian mates.

"Look at my story, my history -- it's just mind-blowing," said Moylan, who wasn't even signed by the Braves until they saw him throw a couple of those fastballs against Venezuela on March 9 in the World Baseball Classic.  

Moylan struggled with his control in that Classic contest. But while recording four strikeouts and issuing four walks in 1 1/3 innings, he showed he wasn't the same youngster whose previous appearance in the United States had come in 1997 with the Twins' rookie level team.

"It's a great story," Braves manager Bobby Cox said. "He's been pretty impressive."  

Moylan made two appearances for Richmond, allowing two earned runs in four innings. Both of those runs came in a three-inning stint on Sunday.  

When the Braves headed to California to begin the regular season last week, Moylan and Ken Ray jumped in a car and drove to Richmond. Little did they know that each of them would be bringing their remarkable stories to Atlanta so soon.

Ray, who was promoted on Thursday, hadn't been in the Majors since 1999. Since making his debut with a four-pitch strikeout of Barry Bonds, he's allowed just one hit and completed four scoreless innings for Atlanta.

"We were more worried about Richmond and what our roles would be in Richmond," Moylan said. "Then we were there a day and he gets called up. Four days later, it's me."  

Moylan didn't begin throwing with a sidearm delivery until seven months ago. His purpose was to relieve stress on his back, which has been surgically repaired twice this decade. The result was the development of a 96-mph fastball, one that is about seven miles per hour faster than the one his former overhand delivery produced.

Things suddenly began getting easier for Moylan, who served as the manager, cleanup hitter and closer for the Blackburn Orioles, a club team in Australia. But now they've gotten better than he could have ever expected.  

"It's good to be here," Moylan said. "I didn't think it would be this soon."