The Braves defeated the Phillies 2-1 on Monday behind a rare Julio Teheran gem at SunTrust Park.
Teheran pitched six one-run innings, adding nine strikeouts and six walks. The bullpen pitched three innings, with Shane Carle, A.J. Minter and Arodys Vizcaino allowing one hit combined.
The difference was Ozzie Albies’ aggressive baserunning, scoring from third on Kurt Suzuki’s shallow sacrifice fly.
Here’s what the Braves said after the win, which was their sixth victory over the Phillies in 2018 after topping them six times last season.
Manager Brian Snitker
On Teheran’s outing:
“He just kind of kept pitching. The breaking ball was really good. He kept the ball down really well. Just competed great. It was just a really solid outing for him.”
On Minter issuing back-to-back walks but escaping the inning:
“He never gave in. He’s a tough kid. It wasn’t anything crazy wild, he was just missing. But coming around that, and that (Carlos) Santana at-bat was huge too. So that was good. Vizzy too. He threw the ball well also.”
On defeating Phillies ace Aaron Nola and bouncing back from Saturday’s loss to Cubs:
“Really good pitcher. That kid’s really good. So that was nice, it was just well-played game. Did a lot of really good things. Biggest thing, Julio, those six innings. Shane Carle again too. He was huge right there. He’s been pitching really well for us. Good team effort there.”
Starter Julio Teheran
On his start:
“I felt really good going out there. My slider was working really good today. I use it a lot. … In that first inning, I was able to hold the game and give those guys a chance to score. They’ve been doing great with the offense. And I felt I needed to do my part.”
On the difference with his slider this year vs. last:
“I’ve been working, been in my bullpens with the pitching coach. I want it like it was two years ago, control it where they know what’s coming and still it was hard. It’s easy when you have a pitch like that and you can throw it and you have the confidence. Today I felt like I had the confidence, even throwing it 3-2, and that’s something that I did a lot. It was an advantage for me.”
Catcher Kurt Suzuki
On the team’s aggressiveness on the base paths:
“It’s just playing the game. The game within the game: Putting pressure on the defense, creating havoc when you’ve got guys like Ozzie, like Ender (Inciarte), guys that can run the bases and are fast. I think having those guys healthy, who do things like that, that creates opportunity and in turn creates runs and helps us out.”
On Teheran:
“He threw a lot of strikes, got ahead. Got a lot of hitters on some good, quality breaking balls. Just kind of typical Julio fashion. Got ahead, got the guy out of there, keep the ball out over the middle of the plate. That’s kind of the name of the game.”
Defeating Nola:
“We knew we were going to be in for a good game. Nola’s tough, obviously. He’s been tough against us the last few times. We knew it was going to be a good game and we were going to have, not trouble scoring runs, but runs were going to be hard to come by. We’ve got to take advantage of opportunities like that, like we did tonight. And Julio did a fantastic job. And the bullpen coming in too. So it was just a great game all around.”
