ATLANTA—Julio Teheran certainly deserved a better fate.
The right-handed pitcher, who has endured his share of troubles at SunTrust Park, was sparkling on the mound against the Blue Jays, surrendering just one run and three hits over 6 2/3 strong innings.
And yet, Teheran had no direct role in shaping the outcome. Upon exiting with two outs in the seventh inning, the Atlanta Braves were embroiled in a 1-all tie and seemingly primed for a long defensive battle.
A few minutes later, though, all heck would break loose, with Atlanta's defense and bullpen buckling under the weight of a pressure-filled frame, allowing five runs in the 8th and eventually ceding a 6-2 loss to Toronto (42-48).
With the defeat, the Braves (50-40 overall) are one full game behind the Phillies (51-39) in the National League East standings—the club's largest divisional deficit since May 1.
About that disastrous eighth inning ... things went from bad to worse during this interminably long sequence:
**Braves shortstop Dansby Swanson booted Yangervis Solarte's ground ball, allowing the leadoff hitter to get on base.
**A botched pickoff move from reliever A.J. Minter paved the way for Jays pinch-runner Lourdes Gurriel to advance to second base. He would score moments later, after Russell Martin laced an RBI single to left field.
**Randal Grichuk then stole third base on the aforementioned Minter.
**Kevin Pillar produced an RBI single to right field, scoring Grichuk.
**Shane Carle didn't fare much better for the Braves. Upon entering the game, he promptly yielded a two-run double to shortstop Aledmys Diaz.
**Devon Travis then connected on a ground-rule double over Ronald Acuna Jr.'s head in left field, bringing home the sixth Toronto run. At the end of the carnage, the Braves' three errors mightily contributed to a close-knit affair that got of hand quickly.
As such, Teheran's superb outing will serve as a forgotten footnote with box scores and Baseball Reference. For the third time in five starts, the Colombian native has given up one or zero runs.
Unfortunately, Teheran owns a cumulative ERA of 4.13 during that span, the result of getting rocked for five-plus runs twice since June 23.
The Braves offense, in turn, could muster just two runs from their eight hits.
The All-Star duo of Ozzie Albies (three hits, one steal) and Nick Markakis were the two players to generate multiple hits; and from a rally standpoint, Atlanta only sent five players to the plate twice, with both frames ending on a strikeout.
The main takeaway, moving forward? The Braves cannot let Tuesday's shaky defeat snowball into a week of sloppy play.
With only four games left until the All-Star Break, Atlanta must hold its ground through the weekend, given how 10 National League teams hold sincere hopes of claiming the five playoff slots.