ARLINGTON, Texas – In a span of five batters in the sixth inning Saturday, the Braves' Julio Teheran went from throwing a no-hitter to trailing 3-2 against the lowly Rangers.
All three runs were unearned after an error by left fielder Justin Upton.
Oh, it was excruciating.
The Braves’ playoff push is starting to feel like another September swoon after a 3-2 loss to Texas on Saturday at Globe Life Park, which gave the Rangers consecutive home wins for the first time since late June and assured the Braves of series losses at all three stops on a nine-game trip that ends Sunday.
Atlanta is 3-8 with four consecutive series losses in September, and must win Sunday to avoid being swept by a Rangers team that has the worst record in the majors (56-92) and had lost 11 of 12 games before the Braves came to town.
Teheran (13-12) was charged with three hits, three unearned runs and one walk with six strikeouts in eight innings for the complete game and loss. He and Detroit’s David Price are the only major league pitchers to get a loss this season while allowing no earned runs in a complete game with no earned runs allowed
Teheran faced the minimum 15 batters through five innings, allowing only a leadoff walk to Adam Rosales in the third inning in that inducing a double-play grounder by the next batter, Luis Sardinas, who would later break up the no-hitter with a flare single to center with one out in the sixth.
The Braves had taken a 2-0 lead in the third inning on three consecutive two-out hits by Emilio Bonifacio, Phil Gosselin and Freeman, with Gosselin singling in a run and Freeman doubling in another.
After Sardinas singled in the sixth, Leonys Martin hit a two-out fly ball to left field that bounced out of Upton’s glove as he ran in to make what would’ve been a routine play.
The Rangers capitalized fully on the two-out error. Elvis Andrus, the long-ago Braves prospect, hit an opposite-field single through the right side of the infield to cut the lead to 2-1, and Rougned Odor followed with a two-run double to the left-center gap for a 3-2 lead.
Lisalverto Bonilla (1-0) got the win in his first major league start and third appearance, limiting the Braves to four hits and two runs in six innings, with four walks and three strikeouts.
The injury-riddled Rangers had gone 19-57 since June 17 before winning the past two against the Braves, and now they’ll try to complete their first sweep since late April.
For complete write-thru version of this story including postgame quotes, please go to MyAJC.com or use this link.
