Along with distancing himself from the nagging ailments that hampered him over the past two months, Julio Teheran fueled the five-run third inning that soured Edwin Jackson’s homecoming and propelled the Braves to a 7-3 win over the Padres on Tuesday night at Turner Field.
Teheran scattered six hits, surrendered two runs and notched eight strikeouts over seven innings en route to his first home win of the season. The All-Star hurler aided his best start in more than a month by opening the five-run third with a double — one of the six hits Jackson surrendered in the inning. Dansby Swanson chased the Padres’ veteran with a single that accounted for the first of his three RBIs.
Jackson, an Atlanta native who pitched for the Braves last year, allowed five earned runs and seven hits over 2 2/3 innings — his shortest start of the season. Oswaldo Arcia who has played for three other Major League teams this year produced his first home run as a Padre when he hit a two-run shot off Teheran with two outs in the fourth inning.
Teheran entered the game with a Major League-low average run support of 2.9 runs per game, but Swanson did his part to increase this figure as he notched the last of the four RBI singles Atlanta recorded in the third inning and also provided some insurance with a two-run double in the fifth inning. The highly-regarded shortstop entered Tuesday with just one RBI through his first 39 career plate appearances.
Arcia’s towering fourth-inning blast was his seventh of the year, as he capitalized on a grooved 1-1 fastball from Teheran. At 40 degrees, Arcia’s blast had the fourth highest launch angle on a Padres home run this season. Only Alex Dickerson and Ryan Schimpf (twice) were higher.
As Teheran struck out two of the first three batters faced and limited his damage to Arcia’s home run, he provided further indication he was just shaking off rust in the two previous starts made since returning from the disabled list with a right lat strain. His fastball sat between 92-94 mph and he seemed to regain a feel for his slider as he notched his highest strikeout total (8) since June 14.
In his first game back at Turner Field, former Brave Christian Bethancourt exited Tuesday’s game early after he strained his left intercostal muscle in the top of the fourth. If Bethancourt’s injury requires a disabled list stint, it’s likely the Padres would call upon Hector Sanchez from Triple-A, instead of their catcher of the future, Austin Hedges. They’ve spoken repeatedly about getting their top youngsters experience in the Pacific Coast League playoffs, and if Hedges remains at Triple-A until Sept. 15, the Padres would gain an extra year of team control.
Matt Wisler will oppose his former organization when Atlanta resumes this three-game series on Wednesday at 6:10 p.m. CT. Wisler was acquired in the multi-player trade that sent Justin Upton to San Diego before the 2015 season The young hurler returned to the Majors last week and flirted with a no-hitter while completing eight strong innings in Arizona. Thunder Radio will bring you the broadcast of that contest as we will join the Braves Radio Network immediately following the Ryan Sulkowski Show tonight.
