Pitcher breaks his elbow throwing a curveball

WASHINGTON — Gavin Floyd had never heard the name of the piece of bone he broke inside his elbow. Manager Fredi Gonzalez didn’t even try to pronounce it.

But no matter how you say “olecranon,” it spells more bad news for the Atlanta Braves pitching staff.

Floyd, recently recovered from elbow ligament replacement surgery, fractured the bony tip of the forearm bone that sticks out behind the elbow when he threw a curveball to lead off the seventh inning of Thursday night’s 3-0 win over the Washington Nationals.

“It was fine until that last pitch,” Floyd said. “I felt a pop.”

Floyd will return to Atlanta on Friday to be examined by team doctors. The injury is so rare that the Braves couldn’t provide even a guess of a timetable for his return. A similar injury ended the career of Detroit Tigers reliever Joel Zumaya in 2010.

“In the big picture, I think he’s going to be OK,” Gonzalez said.

Floyd flexed his pitching arm awkwardly after the fateful pitch, which turned into a long foul ball by Jayson Werth down the left field line. After an examination by the Braves’ trainer on the mound, Floyd left the game for reliever Anthony Varvaro.

“It was a weird spot,” Floyd said. “It was a little sore before, but not in the area that I had surgery.”

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Floyd (2-2) was making his ninth start since recovering from Tommy John surgery. He had been working on a two-hit shutout. He threw only 64 pitches, walking one and striking out six to drop his ERA to 2.65 in his first season with Atlanta.

“I felt like I was getting better and better, so it’s definitely disappointing,” Floyd said. “Definitely not what I envisioned to happen. I haven’t had any pain since the surgery.”

Gonzalez said: “What a shame,” Gonzalez said. “The guy comes all the way back from Tommy John. … I feel for the young man.”