NEW YORK (AP) — Julio Teheran tossed a one-hit masterpiece and did not allow any other baserunners, pitching the Atlanta Braves to a 6-0 victory Sunday that capped a surprising three-game sweep of the scuffling New York Mets.
Nick Markakis homered and drove in two runs for Atlanta, which has won five straight for the first time since the first five games of last season. Freddie Freeman had four hits and the Braves finally mustered some offense in support of Teheran (3-7), who yielded only Michael Conforto’s clean single leading off the third inning.
Conforto never advanced, and the right-hander dominated New York the rest of the afternoon, spoiling Jacob deGrom’s birthday as a Father’s Day crowd of 41,576 booed the home team repeatedly.
Atlanta (23-46) arrived at Citi Field this weekend with the worst record in the majors, but played with much more focus and energy than the defending NL champions. A pair of former Mets farmhands earned the wins in the first two games of the series, and Teheran sent Atlanta to its first sweep at Citi Field since September 2012.
The 25-year-old Teheran struck out seven and retired his final 21 batters. He threw a season-high 120 pitches, 82 for strikes, in his third major league shutout and fifth complete game. All the others came in 2014, when he was an NL All-Star.
Mixing 93-94 mph fastballs with 71-72 mph curves, Teheran completely shut down the Mets. He helped himself at the plate, too, with a pair of sacrifice bunts and a single — all of which contributed to Atlanta runs.
RECAP: Teheran spins one-hit shutout to seal sweep. https://t.co/hdrS0Ozn6w pic.twitter.com/IOCtaaddK7
— Atlanta Braves (@Braves) June 19, 2016
In a matchup of quality starters getting little help from their teammates lately, Teheran outpitched deGrom (3-4), who has not won since April 30 against San Francisco. He lost his third consecutive outing and fell to 0-4 in his last nine starts since winning his first three of the season.
Pitching on his 28th birthday and as a dad on Father’s Day for the first time, deGrom gave up three runs and five hits in six innings. The 2014 NL Rookie of the Year struck out six and walked one.
New York has dropped six of eight overall.
ROLL WITH IT
Fan favorite Wilmer Flores gave the crowd a rare reason to cheer when he tumbled onto the rolled-up tarp to make a tenuous catch of a foul popup. The third baseman wound up wedged between the tarp and a low retaining wall, but held onto the ball.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Braves: Speedy LF Mallex Smith was in obvious pain after getting hit by a pitch on his left thumb in the seventh. He came around to score, but was replaced on defense by Jeff Francoeur in the bottom of the inning. … 3B Adonis Garcia (left ankle) was out of the starting lineup for the third consecutive day. He was replaced by Chase d’Arnaud, the brother of injured Mets catcher Travis d’Arnaud. … SS Erick Aybar walked slowly to first base and was checked by a trainer after getting hit by deGrom’s pitch in the third. He remained in the game.
Mets: Before the game, manager Terry Collins said reliever Jim Henderson (right shoulder) was undergoing an MRI. … Collins clarified that when he lifted Steven Matz after six effective innings and 99 pitches Saturday night, the left-hander mentioned his elbow felt a little tight anyway. But he was already coming out of the game. “He didn’t seem too concerned about it,” the manager said.
UP NEXT
Braves: Following an off day, Atlanta opens a two-game set in Miami on Tuesday night with Braves RHP Bud Norris (2-7, 4.81 ERA) facing RHP Jose Fernandez (9-3, 2.57 ERA), who is 23-1 with a 1.53 ERA at Marlins Park in his career. Fernandez will start on nine days’ rest.
Mets: A day off before Kansas City comes to town for another World Series rematch. RHP Noah Syndergaard (7-2, 1.91 ERA), who has won five straight decisions, starts Tuesday night against Royals RHP Ian Kennedy (5-5, 4.17 ERA). Syndergaard won 2-0 in Kansas City when the teams split two games to open the season. Of course, he also earned New York’s only World Series victory last October and rankled the Royals by firing his first pitch above the head of leadoff hitter Alcides Escobar.
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