Early in the year, SunTrust Park was anything but home sweet home for Julio Teheran. Now, Teheran probably wishes he had a few more home starts left.
The Braves’ four-time opening day starter pitched seven innings, giving up two runs (one earned), in his final home start of the season on Saturday. He exited the game down 2-1, but Johan Camargo’s late-game heroics gave the Braves a 4-2 win.
“I wanted to do my job, and the other guys were trying their best to get us a run,” Teheran said. “We got one run early. But I was trying to keep it within a score and let the guys get some runs later.”
Teheran has flipped the script on his home struggles. Once a punching bag on the SunTrust mound – a 7.36 ERA and 15 homers allowed in a 12-start home stretch from April 19 through Aug. 19 – Teheran has figured it out.
Teheran owns a 2.84 ERA, allowing only two homers, over his past four times taking the SunTrust mound. The Braves won two of those games, and the other two provided a total of one run in support.
“It was a little struggle at the beginning but it’s huge,” Teheran said of righting the ship. “And that’s something that I want to keep doing next season. We were worried because I wanted to do good, especially in the park that we play in most, and I’m glad that I found a way. We just have to keep going.”
Across his last eight starts (five at home), Teheran has a 2.25 ERA, the fifth lowest ERA in the National League during that span.
He’ll finish the inaugural season at SunTrust with a 6.86 ERA in 17 starts, compared to a 2.84 ERA in 14 road starts (with one left).
Teheran stayed in to face Odubel Herrera in the seventh with the bases loaded, and induced a groundout to leave the game with a 2-1 lead. It was the type of situation that spoiled Teheran’s earlier starts.
“It’s great. Hats off to him,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said of Teheran’s strong closing performance. “You know, he’s one of those pros that just prepares in between every start. It’s like he’s one of those guys you watch, you admire how he goes about it, how professional he is. He’s got one more. Let’s hope he goes out with a bang.”
The 26-year-old Teheran surpassed 1,000 career innings in the start, becoming the 11th pitcher in Atlanta franchise history to reach that mark. He’s gone at least seven innings in three of his past six starts.
“Five years that I’ve been healthy to complete those innings,” he said. “It’s a long, long way, a long career, and hopefully I get some more of those innings.”
