Julio Teheran was confident he could shake off his slow start against the St. Louis Cardinals on Friday night. Atlanta Braves manager Brian Snitker was not so sure.
Teheran walked the first two batters he faced and then buckled down to retire 15 of the next 16 as the Braves rolled to a 5-1 win over the Cardinals.
Teheran (6-5) allowed just two hits over six shutout innings. He struck out four and did not walk a batter after issuing two free passes over his first 13 pitches.
”The (heat) was kind of bothering me a little bit at first Redskins Cheap Jerseys ,” Teheran said. ”Then, I started concentrating on the game. When you get your head into what you want to do, everything else is secondary.”
Snikter was initially concerned.
”The first two or three batters, I was wondering if he was going to make it through,” Snitker said. ”Then he just kind of righted himself and he was sharp, efficient. His stuff was really good.”
It marked the fifth time this season that Teheran tossed six or more scoreless innings in 16 starts.
”He threw us a bunch of strikes and just kept guys off base,” St. Louis infielder Matt Carpenter said. ”He kept us off balance.”
Johan Camargo had three hits including a two-run double to help Atlanta win for only the fourth time in 13 games in St. Louis since the start of the 2016 season.
”We believe in ourselves and everything is possible,” Camargo said.
Dan Winker recorded his first major league save by retiring the only two batters he faced.
Miles Mikolas (8-3) gave up one run on seven hits in 6 1/3 innings for the Cardinals, who have lost two straight.
”I felt pretty good out there,” Mikolas said. ”It was tough dealing with the heat the first couple innings, but after that Youth Derrick Nnadi Jersey , I think I settled in.”
The Braves used successive singles by Camargo, Dansby Swanson and Danny Santana to load the bases with one out in the seventh. Austin Gomber relieved Mikolas and his first pitch glanced off Ender Inciarte’s helmet for a 1-0 lead.
Camargo slapped a two-run double off Jordan Hicks in the eighth to push the lead to 3-0, and Swanson capped off the three-run inning with a run-scoring single.
Swanson also had three hits, trying a season high.
Atlanta’s Ozzie Albies singled in the ninth to extend his hitting streak to a career-high nine games, and later scored on Nick Markakis‘ sacrifice fly.
Kolten Wong grounded into a fielder’s choice with the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth as the Cardinals avoided a shutout.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Braves: C Tyler Flowers left the game with a right hamstring cramp after flying out to end the sixth inning. The game-time temperature was 92 degrees, ”I did everything I could to prepare for it,” Flowers said. ”No answer.”
… OF Ronald Acuna Jr. returned to the lineup on Friday after missing 27 games with a left knee sprain. He went 0 for 4 … RHP Brandon McCarthy was placed on the 10-day disabled list with right knee tendinitis. … RHP Matt Wisler was recalled from Triple-A Gwinnett.
Cardinals: INF Paul DeJong went 1 for 3 in his first rehab start with Triple-A Memphis on Friday. DeJong, who has missed 38 games with a fractured bone in his left hand, is likely to be recalled on Monday. … RHP Matt Bowman also began a rehab stint on Friday in Memphis. He has been sidelined with blisters and numbness in his fingers.
UP NEXT
RHP Luke Weaver (4-6, 4.59) will face LHP Max Fried (0-2, 4.09) in the second of the three-game series on Saturday. Weaver struck out a season-high nine batters in an 8-2 win at Milwaukee on June 24. Fried was scratched from a scheduled start at Gwinnett on Friday.
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KANSAS CITY Youth Dorian O'Daniel Jersey , Mo. — Four Houston Astros starting pitchers have won at least eight games this season. They are Gerrit Cole, Charlie Morton, Justin Verlander and Lance McCullers.
The lone exception is left-hander Dallas Keuchel, the 2015 American League Cy Young Award winner. Keuchel, who pitches Saturday against the Kansas City Royals, is 3-8 with a 3.71 ERA in 14 starts this season.
Keuchel has allowed 90 hits, including a dozen home runs, and walked 32 while striking out 81 in 82 1/3 innings. He has a 3-1 career record against the Royals in six starts. He had a no-decision against them last year, allowing two hits and one run in seven innings.
If Keuchel is the weak link in the Astros’ rotation, that is a fearsome five.
“The Gerrit Cole addition was great and Verlander was a great addition to them last year,” Royals manager Ned Yost said. “The thing that is so important is they make these deals in hopes they can get them over the hump with a World Series Youth Albert Wilson Jersey , and it did.
“They’ve got a fantastic rotation. They’ve got a fantastic group of young talented, athletic players. They’re a good team. They’re a tough match.”
The Astros (46-25) reminded the Royals just how good they are with a 7-3 victory on Friday night in the opener of a three-game series at Kauffman Stadium. Evan Gattis, who drove in five Houston runs on Tuesday and Wednesday in Oakland, hit a sixth-inning grand slam.
The Royals (22-47) took a hit besides in the loss column when starting right fielder Jorge Soler left with a fractured first left metatarsal in the sixth inning. He stumbled out of the blocks while grounding out. It is the same foot Soler fouled a ball off last Friday in Oakland and then did not play again until Tuesday.
Yost said he did not know if the injuries are related. He said Soler would be out for an extended period. The Royals will make a roster move Saturday with Soler, who was on crutches in the clubhouse after the loss, headed for the disabled list.
Both clubs made roster moves Friday. Astros left-hander Reymin Guduan was placed on the paternity list. They recalled infielder Tyler White from Triple-A Fresno, where he was hitting .338 with a 1.023 OPS in 62 games.
The Royals purchased the contract of right-handed reliever Brandon Maurer from Triple-A Omaha. In his past seven outings, he ran off a scoreless streak of 12 2/3 innings while striking out 10 and holding opponents to a .163 batting average with one extra-base hit.
The Royals optioned rookie right-hander Jason Adam to Omaha. Adam had allowed six home runs, including a grand slam Wednesday, in 15 1/3 innings.
Left-hander Danny Duffy, who is 3-6 with a 3.28 ERA in 14 starts Youth Daniel Kilgore Jersey , is the Royals’ probable starter Saturday. He is coming off his best start of the season, tossing seven scoreless innings last Saturday in Oakland, allowing three hits and striking out a career high 10.
Duffy is 2-2 with a 4.50 ERA in eight outings, four of them starts, against the Astros. He owns a 2.08 ERA in his last two starts against the Astros.
The Royals will attempt to snap a four-game losing streak. They have dropped 10 of their last 11 and are 10-24 at home. They’ve scored just 26 runs in 13 games in June, when they are hitting .183.
The Astros have the best road record (27-11) in the majors. They have won their last eight road games, three shy of the club record set last year. They have logged at least a dozen hits in five straight games, the second longest streak in franchise history and trailing only a seven-game streak set in 2007.