The right-hander had no decision in the Braves' 4-3 10-inning
Sunday victory -- Nick Markakis' sacrifice fly in the 10th drove in
the decisive run -- but tossed seven shutout innings for his second
straight strong outing.
"Julio was tremendous, he was really good," said Braves manager
Fredi Gonzalez. "This is now back-to-back outings. ... I was hoping
for seven innings of 94-95 pitches and get him out of there. He
carried his velocity through the last hitter he faced."
Teheran, who remained 0-3, actually threw 109 pitches -- 68 for
strikes -- while limiting the Cubs to two hits, walking one and
striking out nine.
"I felt really good throwing out there, even if it was cold,"
Teheran said. "I got control of the game the whole time and I was
commanding all my pitches and it turned out pretty good. Whenever
you feel good you're able to compete."
 Teheran gave up one run on six hits in his last start on April 25 in
a 1-0 loss to the Red Sox.
Markakis' one-out sacrifice fly to deep left in the 10th inning
drove in Daniel Castro from third to give the Braves a rare win.
Atlanta (6-18) has won two of its last three and salvaged a split in
an abbreviated two-game series. The Cubs (17-6) saw a four-game
winning streak snapped as reliever Hector Rondon (0-1) took the
loss.
Arodys Vizcaino (1-0) worked 1 1/3 innings for the win while
reliever Jason Grilli faced four batters in the ninth his second
save for Atlanta.
Chicago was held scoreless through seven innings, then rallied to
force a 3-3 tie with two runs in the eighth and another in the
ninth.
Addison Russell lined an RBI single to right to score Ben Zobrist
with one out in the ninth off Vizcaino for a 3-3 tie.
"We could have done things earlier in the ballgame to push us across
that threshold, but we didn't," said Russell. "(But) I liked the way
the team battled."
Cubs starter John Lackey also had a no-decision. He was pulled for a
pinch hitter after working eight innings and allowing two earned
runs on three hits. Lackey struck out two and walked three.
"I felt great, threw the ball pretty well," Lackey said. "(I) was
locating pretty much everything. Fed (newly activated catcher Tim
Federowicz) and I had a pretty good plan. Executed pretty well."
Trailing 3-0 late, the Cubs trimmed the margin with a pair of
eighth-inning runs.
Braves reliever Jim Johnson entered in the eighth and allowed
runners to reach second and third with one out before departing for
left-hander Hunter Cervenka, who faced one batter.
Jason Heyward grounded to second on a fielder's choice to score
pinch hitter Matt Szczur for the Cubs' first run. Vizcaino then gave
up an RBI single to left to Kris Bryant, scoring Dexter Fowler to
trim the deficit to 3-2.
[to top of second column] |

The Braves broke a scoreless tie in the fifth as Kelly Johnson led
off with a double to left, reached third on Tyler Flowers' groundout
to second and came home on Jace Peterson's sacrifice fly to right
for a 1-0 edge.
Atlanta made it 2-0 in the sixth after putting runners at second and
third with one out. Mallex Smith -- who went 3-for-4 -- scored from
third on an Adonis Garcia grounder that was bobbled for an error by
Russell.
Johnson's RBI grounder into a double play allowed Markakis to come
home from third for a 3-0 lead.
"We had one mistake on defense," said Cubs manager Joe Maddon. "I
thought it was a little bit of a tough out for Addy. Otherwise, they
hit some balls well today. We hit some balls well today without any
luck.
"(But) I really appreciate the way our guys came back (and) once
again, had a chance to win the game and give them credit for
fighting back as they did," Maddon added.
Bryant was back in the Cubs' starting lineup after rolling his right
ankle on Thursday while rounding the bases against the Brewers. He
had a further chance to rest thanks to Saturday's rainout.
NOTES: Saturday's rainout didn't disrupt pitching lineups, it merely
pushed both starters back a day. But figuring out a makeup date
remains unresolved. ... The status of Braves utility player Emilio
Bonifacio remained in limbo. He was in the clubhouse but could not
be activated under MLB rules governing releases and signings.
Bonifacio is ineligible to join the Braves until Saturday and left
Atlanta a player short for Sunday's game after the club optioned RHP
Chris Withrow to Triple-A Gwinnett to open the roster spot. ... The
Braves hadn't decided on a starter yet for Monday's series opener at
the New York Mets as of Sunday afternoon. ... Two rainouts in the
past six days limited the Cubs to just three games in that span. But
Sunday's game started a run of 11 games in as many days, including a
mini-road trip opening Monday with a three-game series in
Pittsburgh. ... Chicago is back home on Thursday to start a
four-game set with NL East-leading Washington. ... Cubs RHP Jason
Hammel (3-0, 0.75 ERA) meets Pirates RHIP Cerrito Cole (2-2, 2.78)
on Monday. ... The Cubs finished 17-5 in April. The last NL team
with a similar start was the 2003 San Francisco Giants.
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