The Braves were down to the last out of the ninth inning Sunday when Chase d’Arnaud ended a hot afternoon for everyone, avoiding extra innings, averting a sweep and giving the team and its fans something to feel good about from a brief, rough homestand.
D’Arnaud hit a two-out single in the ninth inning to give the Braves a 1-0 win against the Rockies, his second walk-off hit this season at Turner Field. He ended the Braves’ June 15 win against the Reds with a 13th-inning game-ender on the night that Freddie Freeman hit for the cycle.
“Last time I remember seeing how the celebration went and saying, I should have embraced that more,” d’Arnaud said. “This time I was ready to embrace it. Once that ball fell in, I was ready to embrace the whole team, and them tackling me. It was great. I picked up Adonis as best I could and tried to hoist him up, but he weighs too much.”
Julio Teheran pitched in last week’s All-Star game and ranks among National League leaders in innings, WHIP and opponents’ average and OBP, yet the Braves ace still has only three wins this season and none in 11 home starts.
Those trends continued Sunday when he pitched seven dominant innings and got no decision. But the Braves mercifully bucked another trend, winning for just the second time in their past 12 games against the Rockies since June 2014.
The Braves were thrashed 11-2 in the series opener and blew a 3-0 lead after seven innings in a 4-3 loss Saturday.
“It was a tough couple of days and we let one get away last night,” Braves interim manager Brian Snitker said. “These guys have been bouncing back and it is unbelievable how they come back on these short-rest games. They come back in these afternoon games and leave it all out there.”
Ender Inciarte led off the ninth with a single against reliever Gonzalez Germen, went to second on Anthony Recker’s sacrifice bunt and to third on a wild pitch. After Gordon Beckham popped out just beyond the infield, Jace Peterson drew a walk and went to second on defensive indifference.
Up came d'Arnaud, who lined Germen's 0-1 fastball to left. The Braves raced from the dugout to celebrate with him.
“We weren’t able to get those runners in when we had guys in scoring position most of the game,” said Recker, who made his first Braves start at catcher since being called up to replace injured Tyler Flowers. “But the pitching staff did an amazing job to keep the game at zero-zero, and in the end Chase did a great job coming through with the big hit.”
The Braves stranded multiple runners in four of the first seven innings and left a runner in scoring position in five of those seven innings while going 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position during that stretch.
After pitching a perfect inning Tuesday in the All-Star game, Teheran shone again by limiting the Rockies to three hits and one walk with five strikeouts in seven innings, and again got no decision. He faced only two batters over the minimum before giving up a two-out double and walk in the seventh inning.
“I know the guys were trying to give me run support,” Teheran said. “I was trying to do my job and hold the other team, and at the end you see the work I did (paid off)…. As long as the team wins and I do my job, I’m fine with it.”
He got no decision to remain 0-4 with a 2.90 ERA in 11 home starts (he’s 3-4 with a 2.67 ERA in eight road starts). The Braves have scored two runs or fewer while he was in nine of his 11 home games.
Teheran has three starts this season in which he’s not gotten a win despite allowing no runs, tied for most such starts in the majors this season and one shy of matching an Atlanta franchise record.
In 25 starts since Sept. 1, Teheran has a 2.51 ERA and only five wins. He allowed two earned runs or fewer in 18 of those starts, and the Braves scored two runs or fewer while he was in 18 of those 25 games including one or no runs in 10.
They started the game with consecutive singles from Peterson and d’Arnaud, then Freeman struck out and Nick Markakis lined into a double play to end the inning. Freeman struck out in all four of his plate appearances Sunday and went 0-for-11 with six strikeouts and one walk in the series.
Freeman had a cancerous mole removed from his upper back on Tuesday during the All-Star break and is playing for about 10 days with a few stitches used to close the incision. He also struck out after d’Arnaud’s one-out single in the third inning, and Jeff Francoeur struck out with two on to end that inning.
The Rockies had only two runners reach base through six innings, and neither team advanced a runner to third through eight innings.
Rockies starter Jon Gray, a consensus top-40 prospect in baseball entering the 2016 season, came in with a 4.67 ERA and limited the Braves to five hits and three walks with eight strikeouts in seven scoreless innings. It was the seventh time in his past 10 starts that he allowed two earned runs or fewer, lowering his ERA to 3.11 in that stretch.
