This is one reason why the Braves haven’t been able to have nice things this season. This type of excruciating home loss.
After Julio Teheran pitched another gem, collecting a career-high 12 strikeouts in seven innings, reliever Bud Norris gave up the go-ahead run in the eighth inning and the Brewers came away with a 2-1 series-opening win that left Atlanta with a – are you ready? – 2-18 record at Turner Field.
Two-and-eighteen. For a team that’s 10-10 in its past 20 road games. (The Braves are 12-32 overall.)
Teheran got no decision after a dominant performance that included a four-strikeout inning. He limited the Brewers to three hits, one run and no walks, the run on a Ryan Braun homer in the fourth inning for a 1-0 lead.
“He was just so efficient,” Snitker said. “Stuff was really good. It’s a shame that he didn’t get rewarded for the effort.”
Teheran said, “There’s nothing I can do (about lack of runs). They’ve been trying hard to get run support. I’m glad that I did my job. (But) we lost the game, so it doesn’t count.”
The Braves answered with a run in the fifth on Mallex Smith's RBI triple, but that was their only big hit as they opened a 10-game homestand with a loss to a team that was 6-14 on the road before Tuesday.
“Make sure you get this,” Smith said, applauding slowly for Teheran. “He’s pitching his butt off. Our pitchers are. We’ve just got to find ways to win these one-point games.”
The Braves fell to 0-10 in home games decided by one or two runs, including 0-8 in the past 14 games (1-13).
Brewers starter Jimmy Nelson allowed four hits, three walks and one run in six innings, the Braves letting him off the hook by going 1-for-7 against him with runners in scoring position and failing to score after loading the bases with none out in the second inning.
Teheran has an 0.89 ERA and .174 opponents’ average in his past six starts, with 42 strikeouts, nine walks and two home runs allowed in 40 2/3 innings. He allowed one or no earned runs in every start in that span, but has a 1-2 record. The Braves scored two or fewer runs while he was in five of those six games.
“He’s doing what he can do,” Snitker said. “Twelve strikeouts, just on the attack, really good, battled his butt off. We hit a bunch of balls really hard. And from what I understand, that’s just kind of the way it’s been living here. You’ve just got to hope that at some point in time it’s going to fall and we score seven or eight runs in that ballgame, and he gets another win.”
Going back to Sept. 1, Teheran has a 2.21 ERA in 16 starts, but just a 3-5 record. He allowed two or fewer earned runs in all but two of those starts, but the Braves scored two or fewer runs while he was in 13 of those 16 games.
Teheran struck out first three batters in the second inning, but with two outs Kirk Nieuwenhuis reached on a third-strike ruled a wild pitch. One single later, Teheran struck out Ramon Flores swinging to end the inning, becoming the first Brave to record four strikeouts in an inning since Craig Kimbrel against the Marlins on Sept. 26, 2012.
Then he struck out the side in the third inning, giving Teheran seven strikeouts in a two-inning span.
The Braves wasted several early opportunities against Nelson, going 1-for-7 with runners in scoring position in the first five innings. After loading the bases with none out in the second inning, Erick Aybar lined into an unassisted double play at third base.
“Luck,” Braves second baseman Kelly Johnson said. “I mean, honestly. We lined out several times today, obviously that one could’ve helped. Julio pitched so well, it really doesn’t feel good to let that go to waste.”
Braun gave the Brewers a lead in the fourth with his leadoff homer, a line-drive shot to straightaway center on an 80-mph hanging slider from Teheran with the count 2-2.
The Braves tied the score an inning later after Aybar led off the fifth with an infield single. He advanced on a Teheran sacrifice and scored when Smith hit a standup triple to the right-field corner. Gordon Beckham was hit by a pitch with two out before Freddie Freeman flied out with runners on the corners.
Freeman also struck out with a runner at third base to end the third inning. He’s 5-for-34 (.147) with 11 walks when batting with runners in scoring position, the second-lowest average among 14 Braves with at least 10 at-bats.
