Wednesday, the Atlanta Braves' worst fears were justified. Already diagnosed with a torn Ulnar Collateral Ligament in his pitching elbow, the Braves' Brandon Beachy will miss the rest of this season.

The same day the Braves hit five home runs and beat the Yankees 10-5, Beachy visited Dr. James Andrews and got the bad news:

#Braves Beachy will have Tommy John surgery Thur.

— David O'Brien (@ajcbraves) June 20, 2012

Beachy's going to miss the rest of this season, of course, and probably a goodly chunk of next season as well. What makes this even worse is how well Beachy was pitching this season: in 13 starts, he's posted a 2.00 ERA, tied with R.A. Dickey for the best mark in the majors.

The Braves do have prospect Julio Teheran waiting in the wings; he got hammered in his only big-league start, last week, but has a 3.24 ERA with triple-A Gwinnett this season.

Update: It looks like Jair Jurrjens will come off the DL and fill Beachy's slot in the rotation.