Atlanta Braves reliever Cristhian Martinez charged with DUI

LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. — Atlanta Braves relief pitcher Cristhian Martinez was arrested early Monday and charged with drunken driving after police say they saw him weaving in and out of a lane while driving slowly on a major Atlanta highway.

Martinez was stopped on Interstate 85 and charged with impeding the flow of traffic, improper lane change and DUI after his blood alcohol level registered at 0.13, said Gwinnett County Police Corporal Jake Smith. The legal limit in Georgia is 0.08.

He was booked into the Gwinnett County Detention Center at 4:24 a.m. and released on bond of about $1,600 a few hours later. The Braves didn’t immediately comment on the charges.

Martinez is the second Atlanta Braves pitcher in less than a year to be arrested on DUI charges. Derek Lowe, who now pitches for the Cleveland Indians, was arrested for DUI in April 2011 in Atlanta, but charges were dropped a few weeks later.

Martinez, 30, is in his third season in the Braves organization. He had secured a spot in Atlanta’s bullpen after a solid spring training performance, and he was among a group of several pitchers who returned early from the club’s facility in Orlando, Fla., to prepare for the regular season.