Julio Teheran broke all of the wrong records Tuesday night.
Teheran, the ninth-year pitcher from Colombia was riding a hot streak Tuesday, the second of a three-game home series against the New York Mets. Entering his 16th start of the season, Teheran surrendered only five runs in May. His 45-2/3 innings pitched without allowing a home run was the second-longest active streak in the majors.
Then, the third inning happened.
Teheran allowed back-to-back doubles to outfielder Jeff McNeil and first baseman Pete Alonso. He coupled that with a single by second baseman Robinson Cano and a double by outfielder Michael Conforto. Later in the inning, outfielder Carlos Gomez hit a single before Teheran eventually struck out pitcher Jacob deGrom.
But the bleeding didn’t stop at his next time on the mound.
In the fourth, McNeil hit a single before Alonso slugged a two-run home run. By the time manager Brian Snitker substituted pitcher Touki Toussaint for Teheran, the Braves stared into a 6-0 hole. It was the start of a dismal night for the leading team in the National League East, as its 10-2 loss to the Mets dampened an otherwise successful month of June.
“I don’t need to worry about it,” Teheran said. “It was a tough game. and I didn’t have my best. They scored on me, they took advantage and that’s what happened.”
Teheran’s six runs ties the most he’s allowed against the Mets in his 27 starts against them. He said he tried to vary his pitches, particularly using the change-up and the slider, but the Mets had answers for both of them. Specifically, Alonso saw great success, adding four hits — in four at bats — and three RBIs.
Before Snitker pulled Teheran in the fifth inning, he told him to rest up, saying he wanted to “cut the losses” and not burn him out. He still has confidence in him, saying he’ll bounce back from this.
He teammates think so, too.
“As much as we want Julio to give up zero runs or one run every time out, it’s just not going to happen,” first baseman Freddie Freeman said. “I still thought he pitched pretty well. We’ll just move on and expect Julio to be like he was in his last few starts.”
