Julio Teheran just needed a little help.
Despite his performance on the mound and at the plate, he didn’t get it.
The Braves allowed three unearned runs in the ninth inning in a 5-3 loss to the Rockies Thursday night at SunTrust Park.
Teheran trailed by a run in the fifth inning despite surrendering just two hits. Teheran’s RBI single in the bottom of the inning gave the Braves the go-ahead run and a 3-2 lead.
It would not stand.
The Rockies handed Teheran his third straight no decision with the unearned runs in the top of the ninth inning off Brad Brach. Dansby Swanson mishandled a routine groundball to shortstop on a back-hand attempt allowing Trevor Story to reach. It opened the flood gates. The Rockies scored three times on singles by Ryan McMahon and David Dahl.
Just like that the Braves’ season high-tying five-game win streak was snapped.
“It was my play to make,” Swanson said. “I just didn’t make it. Pretty simple. I’m out there to make plays and I didn’t make that one.”
Braves manager went to Brach to close the game due to a bullpen that need a rest – specifically A.J. Minter, Jonny Venters and Jesse Biddle. Minter had pitched three of the past four games and Venters pitched in the last two games.
“We won five in a row and it takes its toll,” Snitker said. “There are some guys down there that have been put back together. There are going to have to be nights where we survive without those guys if we want to continue to get the most out of them.
“If we don’t stick to our guns we won’t have them at all. We have to get through a game every now and then without those guys.”
The Rockies led 2-1 before Kurt Suzuki and Swanson tied the game with back-to-back doubles. Teheran then helped his own cause with a base hit to score Swanson.
Suzuki was responsible for the Braves’ first run with a home run in the second inning, his ninth of the season.
After an eight-pitch perfect first inning, Teheran got in trouble in the second. He allowed a single to Nolan Arenado and a walk to Story to start the frame. Arenado scored on a sacrifice fly by Ian Desmond for the game’s first run.
One run on one hit.
Dahl gave the Rockies a 2-1 lead with a home run in the third.
One run on one hit.
Teheran (8-7) only allowed a single and a walk after surrendering the home run before he left at the start of the eighth inning. Teheran pitched seven innings and allowed the two earned runs and three hits. He walked two and struck out seven in the 90-pitch outing.
Luke Jackson relieved Teheran and escaped a two-out jam with runners at second and third with a strikeout of Arenado.
Brach could not hold down the win after the disastrous ninth. The Braves were 57-2 with a ninth-inning lead this season.
“It was a great game for me,” Teheran said. “I’m not as happy was when I left. It’s part of the game. I know they guys that came in tried to do their job. Stuff like that happens.”
Ronald Acuna was back at the top of the Braves’ lineup despite being forced to leave Wednesday’s game after being hit on the left elbow by the Marlins’ Jose Urena. Acuna received a standing ovation from the crowd prior to his first at-bat and promptly hit the second pitch up the middle for a single.
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