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 Teheran bounced back from last week's poor outing in New York to
throw seven mostly strong innings as the Braves earned a 10-7
victory over the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field. Atlanta took two of
three in the weekend series.
Johnson, the Braves' third baseman, went 3-for-4 and clubbed his
third home run in two days, helping Atlanta jump to a 7-0 lead in
the third inning.
Teheran, who took a shutout into the sixth inning, wound up allowing
four runs in seven innings.
"When you go out there 30-plus times every year, you're going to
have a couple of bad ones, but (Teheran) always seems to bounce
back," Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez said. "And (Johnson's) going to
find a place to play during the All-Star break. You never want to
stop playing when you're going like this."
 The Braves (52-43) entered the break sharing the National League
East lead with the Washington Nationals. The last-place Cubs (40-54)
fell 12 games behind the NL Central-leading Milwaukee Brewers.
Johnson, who hit two homers Saturday in the Braves' 11-6 victory,
slammed a three-run shot to center in the third inning Sunday.
Right-hander Craig Kimbrel worked a scoreless ninth for the 29th
save.
Cubs left-hander Travis Wood (7-8) pitch six innings, allowing seven
hits and seven runs. He walked three and struck out four.
The Braves jumped on Wood for three runs in the second.
Catcher Gerald Laird doubled home right fielder Jason Heyward and
Johnson with one out for a 2-0 lead. Teheran pushed second baseman
Tommy La Stella home with a groundout to third.
Atlanta added four more runs in the fourth as Heyward singled to
right to score shortstop Andrelton Simmons.
 Johnson then went deep to drive home left fielder Justin Upton and
Heyward to make it 7-0.
Teheran (9-6) lost his shutout in the sixth when second baseman
Arismendy Alcantara hit his first major league home run -- a two-run
shot to right that also scored left fielder Chris Coghlan -- to cut
the Braves' lead to 7-2.
In the Atlanta seventh, La Stella lined a three-run double to center
with two out off left-handed reliever Zac Rosscup to open a 10-2
lead.
"Rosscup hadn't given up a hit to a left-hander this year, and (La
Stella) did a nice job with a bases-clearing double," Gonzalez said.
Teheran gave up another two-run homer in the seventh as Coghlan hit
his fifth of the season to right field, cutting the deficit to 10-4.
Teheran was pulled for a pinch hitter to start the eighth. He gave
up seven hits, struck out six and walked two.
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Braves left-handed reliever Luis Avilan loaded the bases and
departed with no outs in the eighth. The Cubs went on the score
three times, including catcher John Baker's two-out double off
right-handed reliever Jordan Walden that trimmed Atlanta's lead to
10-7.
"It's a positive sign when you keep grinding and get runs back,
especially after our start," Baker said. "We gave up seven runs in
the first three innings and then we ended up scoring seven. So we
did our best to be able to come back."
La Stella had three hits, and Justin Upton and Heyward added two
apiece. Johnson, scored three times, leads the league with a .439
average against left-handed pitching.
Coghlan, Alcantara and Baker each had two hits for the Cubs.
NOTES: There will be no break for Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez, who
will be on hand in Minnesota as a National League coach during this
week's All-Star festivities. ... RHP Ervin Santana (7-6, 4.01 ERA)
gets the call Friday when the Braves restart the season at home
against the Philadelphia Phillies to open an 11-game home stand. ...
INF Phil Gosselin joined the Braves after his contract was purchased
from Triple-A Gwinnett. He was hitting a team-leading .345 with 27
doubles and 171 total bases. ... Cubs manager Rick Renteria plans to
take some time off during the All-Star break. "I'm not going home.
I'm going to stay here, but I'm going to try and take a step back a
little bit." ... When the Cubs return, the post-break pitching
rotation starts with RHP Edwin Jackson on Friday at Arizona. ...
Rehabbing UT Emilio Bonifacio went a combined 3-for-6 in his first
two rehab games for the Cubs' rookie-level Arizona League affiliate.
... Chicago SS Starlin Castro played in his 700th career game. ...
Chicago LF Chris Coghlan, who went 2-for-4 Sunday, is 20-for-46
(.435) with eight doubles, three homers and 12 RBIs in 13 July
games.
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