Three Cuts: Harper's walkoff spoils Braves' rally, Teheran's step back; more

Published May. 9, 2015 7:58 p.m. ET

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Cory McCartney

Bryce Harper. Again.

After hitting two home runs in the series opener -- and five in the last two games -- his scorching hot bat delivered one of the walk-off variety as the Nationals won 8-6 Saturday, spoiling the Braves' rally from five down.

With first base open it was stunning that Harper was afforded the chance to win the game, but it was a fitting finale given the way things have gone between these National League East rivals. In five games, Washington has gone deep 12 times, including eight so far in this set in D.C.

"He's swinging it really well right now," Atlanta manager Fredi Gonzalez said. "Good for them and bad for us."

If there's a silver lining for the Braves, it's that they'll have Alex Wood on the mound as they try to bounce back on Sunday. He has a 2.40 ERA in seven starts against the Nationals.

But Wood (1-2) is in need of a rebound himself after lasting 4 1/3 with three earned runs and nine hits last Monday against the Phillies -- oh, and he's given up 11 homers in his career vs. D.C.

Before we turn the page to the final game of this series, there's plenty to focus on from Saturday, including Julio Teheran's rocky start, Cameron Maybin's hot bat and more.

When he last took the mound last Sunday, Julio Teheran stole the show from the Reds' Johnny Cueto, carving up Cincinnati's lineup in giving up just three hits in six scoreless innings. It was a start that provided a collective sigh of relief after the Braves' ace had an April ERA of 4.67 and failed to get a quality start in his last three outings of that month.

The problem, and the focus of manager Fredi Gonzalez and pitching coach Roger McDowell, was on getting Teheran to rely more on his fastball. That pitch, after all, resulted in 7.7 fastball runs above average (wFA) in 2014 and 7.2 the year before.

Teheran threw fastballs against the Nationals, 53 to be exact of his 97 offerings -- and they made him pay for them.

Jose Lobaton hit a two-run homer run off a 91-mph two-seamer in the second, then later in that inning, Yunel Escobar turned a four-seam fastball (94 mph) into another run. In all, five of Washington's 10 hits vs. Teheran were on fastball, which given it's his a pitch he's thrown 59.3 percent of the time this season, isn't surprising.

But what does draw concerns is the success opposing batters are having against Teheran's best pitch. He's at minus-1.2 in wFA this season and is struggling to get opponents to chase pitches, with them swinging at just 29.7 percent of his offerings outside the strike zone, which is the lowest of his career.

Teheran's velocity isn't an issue, but the location certainly is and the result in Washington were the most runs he's allowed since June 11 at Colorado and the most hits since he gave up 11 against the Mets on July 8.

Confidence may be at the center of his problems. Look again at the comments he made ahead of that gem vs. Cincinnati via 92.9 The Game's Grant McAuley:

Despite his success against the Reds, Teheran's fastball worked against him in D.C., especially after giving up that early homer to Lobaton. After throwing 27 fastballs through the first two innings, Teheran had exactly 27 more in the last three innings combined.

Thanks to an impressive throw by left fielder Kelly Johnson after Dan Uggla smacked a potential go-ahead single in the eighth inning, Christian Bethancourt tagged Michael Taylor out at the plate to preserve the tie.

There's the defense.

But hitting .188, it's the offense that's been the reason why A.J. Pierzynksi has racked up so many starts behind the plate. We know Bethancourt is going to be there when Teheran is on the mound given their history together, but pressing for more time is going to mean delivering at the plate and down two runs in the eighth, the rookie did just that.

Bethancourt drove a 2-2 slider to center for a two out, two-run double to make it 6-6. He had two hits in four trips to the plate, which over his last three games, makes him .363 with two doubles and three RBI.

That may not be enough to supplant Pierzynksi -- who is hitting .323 -- for the every day job that he seemed destined to claim this spring, but a small sample size shows he's at least making some strides at the pate.

During one of his pregame meetings with media during the last home stand, Gonzalez discussed his options in center field -- Cameron Maybin and Eric Young Jr. -- and said he just didn't have a gut reaction over playing one over the other when it came to their offense.

Maybin went 2 for 4 on Saturday, including an RBI double in the fifth inning for the Braves' first run. That made him 10 for 26 (.384) over the last nine games, which has pushed his season average from .135 to .238.

That surge has helped him make seven consecutive starts and eight of nine overall, while Young --who is hitting .165 -- hasn't started since May 1 and his pinch hit appearance in the ninth inning Saturday marked the first time he's played since coming off the bench May 4.

Atlanta is tied for 28th in the majors with a collective .207 average by its center fielders, but Maybin his helping to bridge that gap, with a hat tip to hitting coach Kevin Seitzer.

He's also making things all the easier on his manager.

Follow Cory McCartney on Twitter @coryjmccartney

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