There doesn’t seem to be any obvious or simple explanation for why Braves pitcher Julio Teheran can be so good at home yet so bad on the road.
Teheran was effective against the Dodgers at home last week. His next outing came Tuesday at the Orioles and, true to form, Teheran struggled away from Turner Field.
Chris Davis had two home runs and five RBIs against Teheran to power the Orioles to a 7-3 victory at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. Davis has 24 home runs on the season and tied his career-high for RBIs in a game.
The Braves (46-54) lost for the 12th time in 15 games to sink a season-worst eight games below .500. They at least got effective pitching for most of those games but they haven’t been able to depend on Teheran for quality road outings this season.
In 10 home starts this season he’s 5-1 with a 2.37 ERA. After the Orioles touched him for five runs in four innings, he has a 7.24 ERA in 11 away starts.
Teheran hasn’t been able to offer any theories for the discrepancy.
“I don’t know,” he said. “Obviously everybody knows I’ve been … struggling on the road. But I’m trying to work, I’m trying to do the same thing I do at home. This is a game where sometimes you don’t understand what happens but you’ve just got to work and keep your mind right and keep your mind strong.”
Teheran can’t blame ballparks. The Red Sox beat him up at hitter-friendly Fenway Park this season but Turner Field isn’t a pitchers’ haven and he’s been good there. He’s also struggled in similarly neutral parks in Washington, Toronto and Pittsburgh.
It’s also not as if Teheran has faced only good lineups on the road and poor ones at home. He’s been roughed up on the road by high-scoring teams such as the Blue Jays and Dodgers, but had a relatively strong start at the Giants and also against the Dodgers at home.
“I don’t know if it’s mental but the numbers sure show it,” Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez said. “We’ve got to get through it. We can’t pick and choose when he pitches. We’ve got a five-man rotation. We go on a 10-game road trip what are we going to do, send him home? We’ve got to get through it somehow.”
The Orioles (50-49) are a middling offensive team in the AL playing in a ballpark that tends to be favorable to hitters. A big portion of their run production comes via sluggers Davis, Adam Jones and Manny Machado. They combined to go 5-for-14 with six RBIs and five runs scored on Tuesday.
Braves first baseman Freddie Freeman staked Teheran to a 2-0 lead with a home run in the first inning but Teheran gave it right back.
After Machado singled to lead off the bottom of the inning and Jimmy Paredes walked, Davis smashed Teheran’s 1-0 fastball over the wall in right-center. In the second inning Machado and Paredes both flied out to the warning track before Jones singled and Davis belted a high shot that also went out in right-center.
Teheran needed 92 pitches to get through four innings. It was his shortest outing since he allowed four earned runs in 3 1/3 innings at the Giants on May 14, 2014.
The Braves looked as if they might have a big night against Orioles starter Ubaldo Jimenez (8-6) when they got four hits in the first inning. But he limited them to no hits or runs over the next six.
Teheran will get a chance to change his fortunes on the road in his next outing. He’s the scheduled starter Sunday at Philadelphia for the final game of the 10-game trip.
“Maybe he’s reading or thinking about the road thing,” Gonzalez said. “It’s been out there the whole year and that’s something we have to overcome and help him overcome it.”
