Neither right-hander Julio Teheran nor Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez was too concerned about the staff ace’s struggles against the Blue Jays on Sunday.
For one thing, Teheran was making just his third spring start and so building up his pitch count leading up to opening day is important.
“He’s not sharp yet,” Gonzalez said. “The breaking ball was just kind of rolling today. He got himself in some hitters’ counts and those guys swing the bat pretty well. He got a lot of pitches, and we will just build on that for the next start.”
Another mitigating factor in seven runs (six earned) allowed by Teheran in 3 1/3 innings was the hard infield dirt that created some tough hops for infielders. Teheran said his teammates told him it was like playing “on concrete.”
But the Blue Jays, especially Jose Reyes, did hit some of Teheran’s pitches hard.
“It wasn’t my best location,” Teheran said. “I wasn’t throwing the first pitch for strikes and that’s the most important thing for a pitcher. I wasn’t commanding very well. I tried to battle and make pitches.”
Reyes led off the game by smacking a double to right and scored on Jose Bautista’s single. Teheran retired the Blue Jays in order in the second inning but faltered in the third and fourth.
In the third, Dioner Navarro’s run-scoring single took a hard bounce in the dirt and kicked too high for shortstop Pedro Ciriaco to handle. Daric Barton followed with a hit that scored two runs and Caleb Gindl drove in another with a sacrifice fly to left.
Ryan Goins led off the fourth inning by reaching on an error by Braves first baseman Freddie Freeman, who couldn’t snag another ball that skipped hard off the dirt.
“It was one of those hot, muggy days and the infield got really hard,” Gonzalez said. “It got choppy (but) no excuses. Right now each time we make a mistake defensively or get a bad hop they put a crooked number up on us. It’s just one of those things. They had to play on it, too.”
After Freeman’s error, Reyes pounded a triple to right-center to score Goins. Teheran struck out Josh Donaldson before Ryne Harper relieved him and gave up a two-run homer to Jose Bautista.
“I know that wasn’t my best day,” Teheran said. “I tried my best.”
Teheran made his first All-Star team in 2014 and finished the year 14-13 with a 2.89 ERA, 186 strikeouts and 52 walks in 221 innings. He allowed two runs (one earned) over a combined five innings in his previous two starts this spring.
“I feel good,” Teheran said. “My arm feels good. That’s the most important thing. I’m getting ready for the season and having a bad outing is something that’s going to happen.”
