Mike Minor helped the Atlanta Braves extend their winning streak to eight straight games with his arm and his bat on Saturday night.
The National League East leaders will settle for Julio Teheran simply continuing his recent success on the mound as they go for a three-game sweep on Sunday of the New York Mets.
Formerly ranked as one of top prospects in baseball, Teheran had a 7.31 earned run average over his first three starts, but has gone 3-1 in his last five outings while not allowing more than three earned runs in any of those games.
The 22-year-old turned in a gem on Monday versus Minnesota, logging a season- high 8 1/3 innings. He carried a shutout into the ninth frame and had retired eight in a row before giving up a solo homer to Josh Willingham.
"I knew I was throwing a shutout, and I wanted to get it," Teheran, who hurled 123 pitches, told Atlanta's website. "When they saw my face and that I wanted to go out there, they just sent me."
The right-hander is now 3-1 with a 3.99 ERA on the season and is 1-0 in his career versus the Mets. He has a 5.63 ERA against them in two games, including one start.
He'll follow up an excellent showing by Minor, who helped the Braves blank the Mets 6-0 on Saturday night not long after Atlanta finished off Friday's suspended contest with a 7-5 victory.
The Braves scored twice in the 10th inning to finish off the first game, then came out and used a five-run fifth frame to roll to a victory in the second contest of the series. Minor got the big inning started with a two-run homer, the first of his major league career.
"I knew it was gone I guess, just wanted it to stay fair. That was the first ball I hit all year that was barreled-up. It was all a blur really," Minor said.
On the mound, Minor won his third straight as he allowed just three hits over 7 1/3 innings. He also struck out 10.
Atlanta scored all six of its runs with two outs. Freddie Freeman collected a pair of RBI singles, Justin Upton had two hits and knocked in a run, while Jason Heyward scored twice and had an RBI in the victory.
Atlanta's eight straight wins have the club 5 1/2 games up on second-place Washington in the division.
Dillon Gee rolled through the first four innings for the Mets before things came undone in the fifth. He yielded five runs on eight hits over five innings of work.
New York, shut out for the second time during the week, received half of its six hits from Ruben Tejada. The Mets have dropped five straight overall.
Ike Davis, who had a single in the 10th inning of the suspended contest, did not start the second game but struck out as a pinch-hitter in the ninth inning. He is batting just .148 on the season and has fanned 15 times in his last 10 games for the Mets.
"Every day I go in there trying to do something. You have different plans. Sometimes they work, sometimes they don't. You just really have to find what works and keep working on it," Davis said of his hitting woes.
The Mets hope that Shaun Marcum can notch his first victory of the season in tonight's finale.
The 31-year-old righty is 0-5 with a 6.59 ERA through six appearances this season, all but one of those starts. He has lost each of his past three outings, giving up four runs on six hits and a walk over six innings versus Cincinnati on Monday. Marcum did strike out a season-high seven in a 4-3 loss.
Marcum did not get a decision versus the Braves on May 3 as he gave up three runs on six hits and three walks over 4 1/3 innings. He is 1-1 in four career starts versus Atlanta with a 2.96 ERA.
New York and Atlanta split a weather-shortened two-game series earlier this month as a May 4 contest was postponed. The Braves have won 15 of the last 18 matchups between the clubs.
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