he Atlanta Braves placed starting pitcher John Thomson on the 15-day disabled list on Tuesday with a strained flexor tendon in his right middle finger. Thomson suffered the injury in the fifth inning of his team's 5-3 loss to the San Diego Padres at PETCO Park on Monday. After tossing a 1-0 fastball to Mark Loretta, Thomson's finger popped so loud that first baseman Adam LaRoche heard it. He immediately doubled over in pain and was quickly attended to by head athletic trainer Jeff Porter and manager Bobby Cox. The 31-year-old righthander, who has returned to Atlanta to be examined by a hand specialist, is 3-2 on the season with a 3.42 earned run average in eight starts. Since last year's All-Star break, though, Thomson is 11-3 with a 2.85 ERA. For his career Thomson is 59-73 with a 4.65 ERA in 187 games with the Colorado Rockies, New York Mets, Texas Rangers and Braves. In a related move, the Braves purchased the contract of righthander Matt Childers from Triple-A Richmond of the International League. Childers pitched in 15 games at Richmond this season and was 2-0 with a 3.26 ERA Childers, who was signed by the Braves as a minor league free agent in December of 2004, has previously pitched in the big leagues with the Milwaukee Brewers.