When Julio Teheran threw a three-hitter for his first complete game Wednesday against the Phillies, he did something no visiting pitcher had done at Citizens Bank Park since the hitter-friendly joint opened in 2004.
No pitcher had blanked the Phillies for a complete game at home in that time, and Teheran needed to be that good to beat Cliff Lee on a night when the veteran left-hander also threw a complete game, firing a career-high 128 pitches and striking out 13 Braves without walking any of them.
Catcher Evan Gattis’ fourth-inning homer on an 0-2 fastball accounted for the only run. He had a career-high four hits, nearly one-third of the 13 that Lee allowed. “I still think he’s the best lefty starter in the game,” Gattis said.
Teheran struck out four, walked none, allowed only three singles and took care of business with 75 strikes in 115 pitches.
“He was hitting his spots and everything,” Phillies leadoff hitter Ben Revere told reporters. “Man, that’s just the way baseball goes. We have a bunch of guys hitting it right on the money, but just right at their guys. It was definitely (Teheran’s) night. Everything went the way he wanted.”
Lee became the first pitcher in history to lose two complete games in which he allowed one or no runs and struck out at least 13 batters. It’s only been done only 19 times, and he’s done it twice, and strangely enough, both of Lee’s losses were to the Braves in his past two starts against them.
Lee struck out 13 and allowed three hits and one run in eight innings of a loss in Atlanta on Sept. 27. In his past three starts against the Braves, he is 1-2 despite a 1.08 ERA and a remarkable 36 strikeouts and one walk in 25 innings.
The last time a Braves-Phillies game had both pitchers toss complete games was Sept. 2, 1972, when the Braves’ Mike McQueen lost 3-0 to the Phillies’ Dave Downs in the second game of a doubleheader.
The last time the Braves played any game in which both pitchers threw complete games was 2004, when Mike Hampton was on the losing side of Randy Johnson’s May 18 perfect game in a 2-0 win for the Diamondbacks at Turner Field.
And the last time the Braves won a 1-0 game in which both pitchers threw complete games was May 25, 2001, when Greg Maddux beat Pittsburgh’s Todd Ritchie.
Gattis rests: Evan Gattis was out of the Braves' lineup as planned Thursday, and Philadelphia must have been grateful.
The catcher had a career-high four hits, including a home run, in Wednesday’s 1-0 Braves win, his fifth homer in his past three games at Citizens Bank Park.
Gattis is the first visiting player to hit five homers in a three-game span in Philadelphia since the Reds’ Eric Davis did it in May 1987. Davis hit five in a three-day binge at old Veterans Stadium.
He was out of the lineup Thursday as usual in a day game after a night game, with veteran backup Gerald Laird getting the start. Most teams use that arrangement — playing their backup catcher in day games after night games — and the Braves are being particularly careful with Gattis, who had his second knee surgery in October.
Heyward vs. Niese: Jason Heyward and the Braves will face Jon Niese on Friday for the first time since the Mets left-hander's 90-mph fastball broke Heyward's jaw Aug. 21, an injury that required surgery and put him on the disabled list for a month.
Heyward still has two metal plates in his jaw and wears a batting helmet equipped with a protective extension attached to the right ear flap.
But Thursday morning, before a series finale against the Phillies, facing Niese was not on Heyward’s mind. The Braves right fielder and leadoff man was thinking more about getting out of a two-week hitting slump that began in the third game of the season.
Since going 3-for-8 with a homer in the first two games of the season, he was 5-for-47 (.106) in his past 12 games before Thursday, with one double, one homer, three RBIs, nine walks and 15 strikeouts.
Batting .145 overall before Thursday, Heyward was asked how he felt at the plate.
“Man, I’m feeling better than it looks, that’s the thing,” he said. “It’s just. … Last night was Cliff Lee. He did what he’s very capable of. The night before, I got a knock (hit) the first at-bat, got a couple of walks, whatever, one of them (line drives) at somebody again. Just got to get those to fall in.”
