Keep the line moving.
It’s the Braves’ offensive mantra.
Well, they did just that all the way through the lineup in the fourth inning of a 5-3 victory over the Padres Saturday night. The four-run outburst was all the support ace Julio Teheran would need - even if he wasn’t his dominant self at Turner Field.
The offensive effort gave the Braves a much-needed victory. The Braves (56-48) snapped a two-game losing streak and won for the second time in the past six games. They also picked up a game in the N.L. East race, moving to 1-1/2 games behind the Nationals, who lost to the Reds Saturday afternoon.
The Braves scored four times in the decisive inning as they batted around with three hits, three walks and two Padres errors. Chris Johnson singled in a run. Teheran successfully executed a suicide squeeze to plate two break a 2-2 tie. Tommy La Stella singled and the Braves scored on a throwing error on the play. Freddie Freeman singled in the final run. Jason Heyward, Evan Gattis and B.J. Upton all drew walks.
“They didn’t get the outs and we made them pay for it,” Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez said. “I thought today was one of those days that was exactly what it ended up being – back-and-forth, back-and-forth, somebody makes a mistake and we’ll capitalize.”
The key was the Teheran squeeze with Johnson on third base. Gonzalez said he informed Teheran verbally that the play was on before he left the dugout.
“Their manager came out to the mound and had a discussion right before that,” Johnson said. “(The third base coach) came and told me we were squeezing. I made eye contact with Julio. Without saying, we said ‘You got it. I got it. Cool. Let’s go.’ We both knew we were on the same page.”
The Braves chased Padres starter Odrisamer Despaigne (2-2) during the inning. He allowed six hits, five runs (two earned) and five walks in 3-2/3 innings.
Teheran (10-6) entered with a major-league leading 1.23 ERA at home this season. The Padres managed three earned runs off him in his six innings of work. He allowed nine hits, two short of his career-high. Teheran’s home ERA is still only 1.48 after the outing.
“I felt kind of like I didn’t have my best stuff,” said Teheran, who picked up his 10th win. “They were swinging and they were getting my pitches that I was making. It’s part of the game.”
Craig Kimbrel pitched the ninth, striking out the side, to earn his 31st save. He finished a bullpen effort that did not allow a hit over the final three innings in relief of Teheran.
Freeman went 3-for-5 to lead the Braves offense. The first baseman is now 5-for-9 through the first two games of the series. Gattis went 2-for-2 and reached base all four times with a double, walk, single and hit by pitch. La Stella went 3-for-4 and reached base four times with three singles and a walk. All three of his hits came with two outs.
“I don’t know what to attribute that to,” La Stella said of the number of two-out hits he has this season. “Whether there are two outs or no outs, I’ll take them.”
The Braves also scored a run in the second inning as Gattis hit a ground-rule double to right-center to follow a Heyward walk. Johnson brought Heyward home with a groundout.
The Padres scored twice in the fourth inning as a Yasmani Grandal double followed singles by Yangervis Solarte and Seth Smith to start the inning. Teheran escaped further damage by getting the next three batters in order. They added another run in the fifth on an RBI single by Solarte.
“We’ve got a pretty good club,” Johnson said of the needed victory. “We don’t get too high, too low. We come in and grind every day and have fun. It was definitely a good win. We have to keep going. We are still behind.”
The Padres (46-57) had a three-game win streak snapped.
The four-game series continues Sunday.
