The Braves have hit their longest skid of the season.
Tuesday’s 6-2 home loss to Toronto marked the Braves’ sixth loss in seven games. The Blue Jays scored five runs off the Braves in the eighth, breaking a 1-1 tie.
A.J. Minter was tagged for four runs (three earned) after entering to face the heart of Toronto’s lineup.
Here’s what the Braves said after the game:
Manager Brian Snitker:
On Julio Teheran:
“He started out struggling a little bit with the command, then he got his breaking ball going. It was good. It was good to get him into the seventh inning.”
On the Blue Jays’ five-run eighth:
“I look back and I don’t know when the last time (Minter) gave up a run. It was exactly what I wanted. (Jesse) Biddle did a good job getting us out of that (seventh) inning. Didn’t like the matchup with Julio and (Curtis) Granderson. He did a really good job. And then A.J. just – he’s going to give up runs every now and then. Like I said, I went back and it’s been a while since they’ve scored on him. It’s going to happen.”
Was it a matter of location?
“Location and he’s human. It’s going to happen.”
On Marcus Stroman:
“He was really good. Kept us off-balance. Did a really good job.”
Starter Julio Teheran:
On pitching into the seventh:
“It was big. I think that (quick sixth) was the most important inning. That’s why I went out for the seventh and got two outs. Just to give the team a chance to battle, and we did. That was a big inning for me.”
On his slider:
“I think the feel. The slider is a feeling pitch. Today I feel I had everything other than the first inning … the game was really good. The fastball too. Everything was close. It wasn’t like my last outing … I think everything was better today.”
Reliever A.J. Minter:
On the eighth inning:
“You learn from it. Balls are going to be hit to people, and some days balls aren’t going to be hit to people. You just have to forget about it and come back tomorrow.”
Is there anything you’d change about tonight, looking back?
“I just feel like I didn’t have my A+ stuff. I made a couple bad 0-2 pitches, 1-2 pitches that I left up towards the middle of the plate, and they made me pay for it. So you have to tip your hat to them.”
This is just part of it, right?
“You can’t worry about the bad performances. You can only move forward. It’s going to happen. I feel bad for Julio because he pitched a great game. It’s baseball.”
