Three Cuts: Teheran stymies Reds, vaults Braves to easy home win
ATLANTA -- Here are a few detailed takes from the Braves' 5-0 win over the Cincinnati Reds on Sunday, a one-sided victory that didn't fully live up to the pitchers-duel hype:
Prior to Sunday, Teheran had been mired in a three-game funk, enduring only 15 innings and posting a woeful ERA of 7.20.
As part of that, there were whispers of the Braves ace being injured (knee tweak from two weeks ago), fatigued or even despondent about his control issues -- which some have attributed to his trouble with gripping the baseball, especially on cold days.
Well, it's funny how one strong start can eliminate the worries and calm the anxieties of Braves Nation. It's funny how one high-profile pitching matchup (Teheran vs. Johnny Cueto) can motivate a burgeoning ace on a random Sunday. And it's funny how the mere lineup presence of Kelly Johnson can boost the morale of an offense that's been scuttling a bit.
Back to Teheran: On a brilliant spring day for baseball, the right-hander was similarly stellar, surrendering just three hits and two walks over six scoreless innings. Of equal importance, Teheran's fastball routinely hit the mid-90s -- daunting enough to stifle the free-swinging Reds (seven homers from Thursday-Saturday).
"The name of the game (on Sunday) was Teheran's shut-down innings," said Braves skipper Fredi Gonzalez, in his postgame media address.
How good was Teheran?
a) He never faced more than five Cincy batters in a single frame.
b) Covering the fourth and fifth innings, Teheran fanned five consecutive batters (Todd Frazier, Jay Bruce, Brandon Phillips, Brennan Boesch, Brayan Pena).
c) Citing his final outs of the day, Teheran suckered the Reds (12-13) into three straight harmless popouts.
The keys to Teheran's supreme outing: A high concentration rate and a healthy dose of fastballs.
"All my pitches (were) good," said Teheran (67 strikes), who had good command of his fastball and slider. "I was focused on what I had to do."
When discussing his Sunday start, Teheran acknowledged that his focus was better than the last few outings. He also hearkened back to a 2014 strategy against the Reds, when the right-hander stymied the Reds at Turner Field (zero runs, three hits allowed over eight innings) -- thanks to a 1-2 punch of fastball/slider.
"I was just trying to do the same thing I did" (back in 2014) ... "and it worked today," said Teheran, who will see the mound against next weekend against the Nationals (on the road).
Technically, Freddie Freeman registered the game-winning RBI on Sunday, driving home Andrelton Simmons with a double in the 1st.
But the result essentially became academic after Kelly Johnson's 427-foot blast against Cueto in the opening frame, scoring Freeman and giving the Braves a robust 3-0 lead.
For the season, Johnson has five homers; for those occasions, Atlanta holds a modest record of 3-2. And for what it's worth, when extrapolating the numbers over a full 162-game campaign (or 122 games played), Johnson remains on track for a career-best 31 homers.
Not bad for a 33-year-old journeyman who bounced around to all five American League teams from 2012-14:
"That's why (managers originally) make lineups in pencil," says Gonzalez, who walked into the ballpark on Sunday, thinking Johnson would get a rest day.
But ... "you see the at-bats, it was one of those game-time decisions," continued Gonzalez, who ended up giving a break to Alberto Callaspo. "(Kelly) made me look good, I guess."
Johnson has been a clutch performer for the Braves, in limited duty. At least that was his original calling before Chris Johnson went to the disabled list (injured hand).
For good measure, Jonny Gomes launched a homer off Cueto in the 3rd, improving the Braves' advantage to 4-0. Cameron Maybin would cap the day's scoring with an RBI single in the 6th, scoring Jace Peterson.
"If you had told me we'd score five runs" off Cueto over six innings, joked Gonzalez, "I would have stopped (at the store) and got some lotto tickets."
No argument there. Before Sunday's outing, Cueto was among the MLB leaders in ERA (1.95), WHIP (0.73), K/BB rate (38-5) and opponents' batting average (.172).
In five career games at Turner Field (including Sunday), Cueto has a 0-3 record, 3.66 ERA, 1.22 WHIP and 29/11 K-BB rate.
On the surface, those fair numbers shouldn't preclude a prime free agent from signing with a different team -- particularly if we're talking big money ($28 million annually?).
But there's a certain psychological aspect, or comfort level, with pitchers and their stadiums -- along with temperamental pitchers and their mounds. Especially when they haven't registered a single victory at such venue.
Of course, this whole conversation could be moot in Cueto's mind, since the Braves will relocate to SunTrust park in 23 short months. And the pitcher's Turner Field ERA (3.66) is considerably better than his work at Philly's Citizens Bank Park.
So, what's relevant about Philly's bandbox park?
As it stands, Cueto has gone winless in only two active National League parks -- Turner Field and Citizens Bank Park.
Fan: "I know you hate looking at the standings before Memorial Day. But what do you think of he Braves' (25-game) start?
My answer: If I wasn't journalistically obligated to post the overall mark after each piece ... I wouldn't even know Atlanta's record after 25 games. (Officially, it's 12-13). Let the season breathe for at least two more weeks!
