Luiz Gohara latest Brave to record first career win

Luiz Gohara added to an already impressive statistic for the 2017 Atlanta Braves.

On Wednesday night, Gohara outdueled reigning National League Cy Young winner Max Scherzer, as the Braves won 8-2 and Gohara picked up his first big league victory.

In doing so, Gohara became the sixth Brave this season to pick up his first career win in a Braves uniform.

Other Braves to accomplish the feat this season include Lucas Sims, Max Fried, Sean Newcomb, Luke Jackson and Jason Hursh.

The youth movement is in full swing in Atlanta, as Newcomb has become a mainstay in the rotation since being called up in early June. Sims got seven starts under his belt before being moved to the pen so Fried could register a few starts, and now Gohara has made a pair of starts with the Braves.

Newcomb’s first win came on June 27 against the Padres, in his fourth career start. That day, he hurled six shutout innings, while allowing six hits and just one walk and racking up eight strikeouts. That day, the Braves won 3-0 and Newcomb’s command wasn’t an issue, as he threw 68 of his 103 pitches for strikes. He would struggle with command in several starts afterwards, and he currently has a 2-8 record through 16 starts.

Sims also got his first win in his fourth start, after suffering a loss in each of his first three. He got his first win in Coors Field of all places, on August 17. That evening, the Braves bats got hot and Atlanta pulled away with a 10-4 victory. Sims went five innings on the day, allowing two runs on five hits. In a statistical anomaly, Sims garnered a decision in each of his seven starts, compiling a 2-5 record.

Fried had 6 ²⁄₃ innings out of the bullpen under his belt, before making his first career start at Wrigley Field against the Cubs on September 3. But Fried thrived in the atmosphere, pitching against the defending world champions, and even though he wasn’t stretched out and was limited to 63 pitches, he still pitched five solid innings and allowed just one run to pick up the win. He wasn’t as fortunate in his second and most recent start, only making it through 3 ²⁄₃ innings in a no-decision against the Marlins.

The aforementioned Gohara got his first W in his second start, after coming up when the rosters expanded in September. On Wednesday night, he allowed just two runs (one earned) in six solid innings of work. A six-run seventh inning broke the score open and gave Atlanta and the young lefty the win. Gohara allowed six runs in four innings in his debut, where walks were an issue. On Wednesday, he didn’t walk anyone.

Jackson had to do little work to notch the first win under his belt. He came on in relief on May 23 against the Pirates, after closer Jim Johnson had blown the save and the lead. With two outs, Jackson came on and got the final out of the ninth inning on a first-pitch groundout. That was the night Matt Adams got his first big hit in a Braves uniform with a walk-off hit down the left field line.

Lastly, Hursh recorded a win in an high-scoring affair against the Giants on June 22. Hursh came on in the fifth inning to relieve Jaime Garcia, and recorded the final two outs of the inning with the Braves trailing 6-4. But the Braves scored eight runs in the next half inning and hung on to win 12-11, giving Hursh his first and only big league win to this point.

Dan Winkler and A.J. Minter are the two remaining pitchers on the active roster that would be eligible to join this list. Both have been solid out of the bullpen, so either of them doing so is not out of the question.