There is an old adage in baseball that giving up bases-empty home runs won’t doom a pitcher. But as evident for the second consecutive night Saturday, that doesn’t apply to the Braves in their current state.
Julio Teheran gave up only four hits in six innings, but three were solo homers that powered the Giants to a 3-1 win at Turner Field, extending the Braves’ losing streak to five games, their longest skid since 2012.
Teheran (2-2) had not allowed more than two homers in 40 career starts before Saturday, when he gave up more than two earned runs for the first time in six starts this season.
“I made three mistakes that cost me three runs,” Teheran said. “Couple of mistakes can cost you the game.”
They sure can when your team is playing like the Braves have lately. They’ve hit .194 and scored 10 runs in the past six games, including a 1-0, 10-inning win against the Reds before being swept by the Marlins. On Friday, the Braves’ Mike Minor gave up two solo homers in his season debut and the Braves lost 2-1.
“We’ve just got to get our offense going,” Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez said. “Our offense has got to help us out a little bit. Guys are going out there, getting a couple of guys on base, then we hit into a double play. What did we hit into, three (double plays) today? We hit into two, and then the strike ‘em out, throw ‘em out.”
The five-game skid is the Braves’ longest since losing eight in a row in May 2012.
Braves starting pitchers, after allowing seven homers and 28 earned runs in 160 2/3 innings in the first 24 games, have allowed nine homers and 24 earned runs in the past five games. All three homers off Teheran led off innings – Brandon Belt in the second inning, Leesburg native Buster Posey in the fourth, and Michael Morse on the first pitch of the seventh.
Teheran gave had no walks and seven strikeouts in his first loss since opening day at Milwaukee, when he allowed both runs in a 2-0 defeat. He has a .500 record despite a 1.80 ERA, and the young right-hander is 1-1 with a 1.20 ERA in his past four starts, including no decision when he pitched eight scoreless innings of three-hit ball against the Reds.
The Braves have scored one or no runs while he was in the game in four of Teheran’s six starts.
“When you lose it’s probably because you’re not coming up with those big hits when guys are in scoring position,” Braves third baseman Chris Johnson said. “And that’s why we’re losing ballgames.”
Ryan Vogelsong (1-1) entered with a 5.40 ERA and limited the Braves to one run on five hits and four walks in six innings.
The Braves (17-12) have been held to two runs or fewer 12 times. They have a 4-8 record in those games, and they’re 3-9 when they don’t hit at least one homer.
They were 2-for-8 with runners in scoring position to make them 5-for-35 during the skid. Before Saturday, the Braves were 27th in the majors with a .212 average with runners in scoring position, and 29th with a .133 average with runners in scoring position and two outs.
They had runners on first and second with none out in the second inning, but Johnson grounded into a 5-4-3 double play. Two walks later, Teheran hit a bases-loaded comebacker to the pitcher to end the inning.
In the third inning, Jason Heyward walked, stole second, and scored the tying run on B.J. Upton’s double. Freeman followed with a single and the Braves had runners on the corners with none out. But Justin Upton struck out, and Evan Gattis struck out on full-count pitch above the strike zone, with Freeman running on the pitch and was caught stealing for an inning-ending double play.
“There I’m thinking just put the ball in play, I’m not thinking we’re going to double steal or do anything crazy,” Gonzalez said. “Just put the ball in play, give us another run. He swings at ball four. We had a couple of guys today swing at pitches way out of the strike zone. That’s something that we need to talk about. I don’t know if it’s pressing; I know everybody wants to do well. But usually when teams go in slumps or individuals slump, usually the first thing you look at is swinging at pitches out of the strike zone. And just thinking about three or four occasions today, we did that.”
Heyward hit a one-out double in the fifth inning and B.J. Upton followed with a walk. Freeman broke his bat on a fly out to right field and Justin Upton struck out to end the inning. He also grounded into a double play after Freeman’s leadoff walk in the eighth inning.
A longer version of this story can be found at MyAJC.com or by putting this link in your browser: http://www.ajc.com/news/sports/baseball/giants-beat-braves-3-1-to-extend-skid-to-five-game/nfn9n/
