The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Teheran finds his groove, but it doesn’t result in win
DENVER — Julio Teheran pitched brilliantly in the hitters’ haven that is Coors Field on Monday night, but the Braves wasted several scoring opportunities before everything went awry in an eighth inning that saw the bullpen falter and a grounder get past shortstop Dansby Swanson.
Swanson’s play — initially ruled an error but changed to a hit — on a Gerardo Parra ground ball let the first run in and the Rockies added two more in the inning to come away with a 3-0 win to open a four-game series at a place where the Braves haven’t won in more than three years.
“That’s about as good as it gets right there,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said of Teheran’s four-hit, threewalk, eight-strikeout performance in seven scoreless innings. “It’s a shame that he couldn’t come out on top.”
No Braves pitcher has won at Coors Field since June 10, 2014, the Braves’ last win at the ballpark in downtown Denver. Since then, the Braves are a staggering 2-15 overall against the Rockies and 0-11 at Coors.
Teheran did some of his most impressive recent work in the seventh inning after Gonzalez led off with a single that caromed off the pitcher’s glove, then stole second base before Jonathan Lucroy walked. With two on and none out in a scoreless game, Teheran struck out Pat Valaika, got pinch-hitter Nolan Arenado (who has a majors-leading 100 RBIs) to pop out foul to first base and struck out pinch-hitter Alexi Amarista.
“That’s the best that I’ve felt in a while,” Teheran said. “I was commanding and controlling the game, using all my pitches. Everything was working today. I was concentrating. In my past games when I get in trouble, I don’t make pitches. But today I was able to do it. I was able to control myself. Even though the umpire was squeezing me a little bit, I didn’t get out of my plan.
“I’ve been working and trying to get back on track and today I felt like I had my best, like the old Julio Teheran we’re used to seeing.”
Teheran was 1-6 in his past nine starts and 0-4 with a 7.00 ERA in his last five before Monday, when he got no decision. He had allowed eight homers in his past four starts, giving him a career-high 28 allowed. That included six homers in 11 innings in his past two road starts at Philadelphia and Dodger Stadium.