Atlanta, GA – Dan Uggla and the Braves staked Julio Teheran to an early lead, and the young right-hander did the rest in pitching Atlanta to a 5-1 victory over the struggling Minnesota Twins in the opener of a three- game interleague series at Turner Field.
The 22-year-old Teheran (3-1) allowed five hits and one walk while fanning four over 8 1/3 effortless innings. He had retired eight in a row before Josh Willingham spoiled his shutout bid with a one-out homer in the ninth.
Uggla belted a three-run homer, and Freddie Freeman drove in a run and scored another for the Braves, who have won four straight following a 1-5 stretch.
Kevin Correia (4-4) was chased after four innings, having surrendered five runs on eight hits in Minnesota's sixth straight loss.
The Twins were coming off a 2-7 homestand and opened their nine-game road trip on an equally sour note -- giving up four runs in the first inning.
Freeman hit the third of three straight singles to plate Jason Heyward, and Uggla stepped in two batters later and crushed Correia's hanging slider deep into the left-field bleachers for a 4-0 cushion.
"I made a real bad pitch to Uggla," Correia admitted. "I didn't have real good command of pretty much anything."
Juan Francisco scored Atlanta's only other run in the fourth when he led off with a double and eventually slid in safely in front of Aaron Hicks' strong throw from left-center field via Andrelton Simmons' sacrifice fly.
Despite throwing 109 pitches through eight innings, Teheran stayed on the hill looking to close out his first career shutout. He retired Justin Morneau before catching too much of the plate on a 2-2 pitch to Willingham, who lined it deep to left field for his first homer since Apr. 29.
With two on and two out, Cory Gearrin came in and retired pinch-hitter Oswaldo Arcia to pick up his first career save.
"I was excited to see him go out there for the ninth," Gearrin said. "It's just a sign of things to come."
Game Notes
This was the first time the Braves hosted the Twins in interleague play. The teams played in Minnesota in 2002, 2007 and 2010, though they met up in the 1991 World Series ... Atlanta improved to 13-5 at home ... Teheran threw 80 of his 123 pitches for strikes ... The Twins recalled pitcher Caleb Thielbar from Triple-A Rochester before the game, and the left-hander spun two scoreless innings of relief in his big-league debut ... Morneau had two of Minnesota's five hits and is batting .365 (27-for-74) in 18 games this month.
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