Braves hold on to beat Blue Jays 8-7

Atlanta Braves third baseman Alberto Callaspo (left) and first baseman Freddie Freeman (centre) and pitcher Jason Grilli (right) celebrate a win over the Toronto Blue Jays at Rogers Centre. PICTURE: USA TODAY Sports

By David O’Brien/The Atlanta Journal-ConstitutionJulio Teheran gave up a career-high four home runs in five innings on Friday. Didn’t matter. The Braves still won.The Blue Jays scored at least once in each of the first three innings while the Braves stranded two runners in each of those innings. Didn’t matter. The Braves still won.They were out-homered 5-2. Even that didn’t matter. They still won.Eighth-inning home runs by Jonny Gomes and Freddie Freeman gave the Braves a three-run lead, and they hung on for a rollicking 8-7 series-opening win at Rogers Centre, where balls sailed like it was the pre-humidor era at Coors Field.“The last couple of games have been tough, we haven’t been hitting the ball very well,” Freeman said after the Braves snapped a two-game skid. “It’s nice to come out and get some hits tonight and put some runs on the board and definitely out-slug them a little bit.”Nick Markakis had four hits (and a walk) and six Braves drove in at least one run as they snapped a two-game skid and overcame one of Teheran’s worst outings. Josh Donaldson and Russell Martin each had two homers for the Blue Jays, with Donaldson taking Teheran deep twice.But the Gomes homer was the game-changer and gave the Braves a lead they would finally not relinquish.“I’ve been watching him do that for years now,” Markakis said. “He’s pretty damn good at it. It takes a lot of focus to come in and pinch-hit. It was kind of a no-brainer matchup right there, and he put a good swing on it.”Gomes’ pinch-hit homer off Brett Cecil to start the eighth inning snapped a 5-5 tie and made him 6-for-9 with two homers against the left-hander, and Freeman’s two-out, two-run homer off Cecil pushed the lead to a seemingly safe 8-5.But Jim Johnson gave up a leadoff homer to Martin to start the Blue Jays’ eighth, and the previously un-scored upon Johnson gave up two more ground-ball singles before recording his first out of the inning.After a sacrifice bunt put both runners in scoring position, the Blue Jays pulled to within a run on a fielder’s choice grounder before Johnson got out of the inning clinging to a one-run lead.The Braves trailed 4-2 before scoring three runs in the fifth inning on two-out extra-base hits by Andrelton Simmons and Jace Peterson. Simmons tied the score with a two-run, opposite-field double deep to the right-center gap that chased Blue Jays starter Drew Hutchison, and Peterson followed with a triple to nearly the same place to bring in Simmons for a 5-4 lead.It was the first extra-base hit for Peterson, a rookie second baseman who was 5-for-26 with seven strikeouts, including strikeouts in both of his plate appearances against Hutchison. He was the first batter to face reliever Roberto Osuna, and pulled a two-strike fastball deep to the gap to give the Braves their first lead since a 3-2 win Monday against the Marlins.The Braves had a National League-best 6-1 record before losing consecutive games to the Marlins Tuesday and Wednesday, falling behind 3-0 in the first inning Tuesday and 2-0 in the third inning in the series finale.Following a day off Thursday, they fell behind quickly Friday when Devon Travis led off the Blue Jays’ first inning with a homer on Teheran’s third pitch, a 1-1 fastball. After Eric Young Jr. hit a game-tying single in the second inning with two outs and an 0-2 count, the Blue Jays moved right back into the lead on Martin’s homer in the bottom of the inning, on an 0-1 fastball.The Braves answered again in the third with a run on three singles, with A.J. Pierzynski’s one-out hit tying the score, 2-2. Pierzynski advanced to second base when the Blue Jays misplayed a rundown, but with two runners in scoring position and one out, the Braves stranded them when Simmons grounded out and Peterson struck out.Donaldson’s first homer of the night was a two-run shot in the third on yet another Teheran fastball. He put the Blue Jays ahead 4-2, and Hutchison retired the Braves in order in the fourth, which would be the only clean inning by either starting pitcher.After Teheran worked out of a two-on, no-outs jam in the fourth, the Braves quieted the crowd with their three-run fifth inning. Markakis led off with a single and Chris Johnson drew a one-out walk. One out later, Simmons’ double tied the score, and the Blue Jays would not lead again.The four home runs off Teheran matched the total he allowed in his past 11 starts before Friday, and in his past 10 starts he had a 2.17 ERA and had allowed more than two runs just once.The right-hander gave up more than two home runs just one other time, when he allowed three solo homers in a May 3 loss to the Giants last season. The three homers by the Giants accounted for all the runs and all but one of the hits Teheran allowed in seven innings that day.