Cunningham, Teheran Come Up Big In Braves 5-3 Win
By John Buhler
Great night for the City of Atlanta’s professional sports teams. The Hawks advance to the Eastern Conference Finals for the first time. The Braves take the first game of their series with the Miami Marlins in South Beach 5-3.
In his first Major League start, LF Todd Cunningham had himself a ball game. Todd went 3-4 at the plate, scoring two runs and knocking in one run. Cunningham replaces Kelly Johnson on the 25-man roster as KJ went on the 15-day DL for an oblique strain. Todd has been more or less stuck in AAA Gwinnett for the last few seasons and looks to benefit from his cup of coffee with the Atlanta Braves.
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Julio Teheran pitched decently in his start, going 5.2 innings and allowing just two earned runs. Though he did strike out five batters, the hits continue to come off his fastballs up in the zone as the Marlins recorded nine hits off Julio. Teheran did help himself at the plate with two-RBI single in the top of the second inning. Overall Teheran pitched well enough to win but ended up with a no decision in his start Friday night in Miami.
Jace Peterson moved to leadoff tonight and went 0-5 with three strikeouts. I understand that Fredi Gonzalez wants Nick Markakis to drive in more runs, but I’m not sold on Jace as our leadoff guy. He has hit well in the seventh spot for the Braves. Markakis will thrive wherever he hits in the batting order. The Braves still haven’t had an ideal leadoff hitter since Michael Bourn roamed centerfield in Atlanta in 2012.
Dee Gordon continues to rake at the plate going 3-5 with three singles and a run scored. His raised his season average to .433. Although he plays for the Fish, Dee Gordon is one of my favorite players not on the Braves. He’s kind of becoming the next Ichiro. That’s not surprising as Suzuki and Gordon are now teammates for the Miami ball club.
Tomorrow’s starters are Alex Wood and Mat Latos. It’s an early Saturday afternoon contest as first pitch comes at 1PM ET. Like I said before, it’s a great night for Atlanta sports fans. Congratulations, Atlanta Hawks! Way to go, Braves!