Julio Teheran, the young right-hander for the Atlanta Braves almost threw a no-hitter against the Pittsburgh Pirates going eight innings with two walks, two hit batsmen and striking out 11 in the process. For Teheran, it's another lights out pitching performance that almost saw him going the distance without allowing a hit.
Teheran had been pitching great coming into this meeting. In fact, the last time he allowed more than four runs in a game, it was against these same Pirates. Since then, Teheran is 3-2 pitching 47 innings while allowing just 13 earned runs with 32 strikeouts and just six walks.
He had the no-hitter until 7 2/3 innings when Brandon Inge came up to bat and smacked a single to left field.
With the outing, Teheran will surely receive a lot more attention.. The Braves look like complete geniuses after keeping Teheran and not involving him in the trade for Justin Upton. Instead, the Braves sent over another young hurler, Randall Delgado. So far in 2013, Delgado has only pitched in one game allowing two runs in two innings pitched.
The Braves quickly gave their starter a lead. By the time the second inning came around, the Braves had given Teheran a 1-0 lead as Chris Johnson drove in a run on a fielder's choice. Later on, as Teheran continued to cruise along and people began noticing something special was occurring, Evan Gattis and Gerald Laird went back-to-back to give Teheran some breathing room. It was Laird's first home run as the April and May Rookie of the Month, Gattis, hit his 13th of the season.
The victory also keeps this Braves team red hot as they swept the Pirates and won their fifth straight ballgame. They are now 37-22 in possession of the second best record in baseball.