Braves fall 3-1 despite strong performance from Julio Teheran

Julio Teheran was dominant early, but the Atlanta Braves' bats once again fell silent in a 3-1 loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers at Turner Field on Wednesday.

Despite well documented struggles on the road, Teheran has been excellent at home and that was the case early Wednesday against the Dodgers. Julio struck out the side in the first and had seven strikeouts through three innings.

The Braves gave him a run to work with in the third as Andrelton Simmons scored on a Cameron Maybin groundout to put Atlanta in front 1-0. Atlanta finished the game with just three hits with none coming over the final six innings.

Teheran ran into trouble in the fifth as Nick Markakis misplayed a fly ball by Yasmani Grandal into a lead off double. Grandal advanced to third on a ground ball out to first by Carl Crawford before Alberto Callaspo singled through the drawn in infield to tie the game at 1-1. Jimmy Rollins followed with a double to the right center field gap that put the Dodgers in front 2-1. Teheran struck out the pitcher Matt Bolsinger, but couldn't escape the inning before Joc Pederson singled home Rollins to give Los Angeles a 3-1 lead.

Kenley Jansen pitched around a lead off walk in the ninth inning to record his 17th save of the season.

Teheran deserved a better fate as he allowed three runs on six hits over seven innings of work. He matched a career-high with 11 strikeouts while walking three. He falls to 6-5 on the season. Bolsinger was just as sharp for the Dodgers allowing one run on three hits over seven innings of work.

So Atlanta comes up short in its bid for a sweep, but still comes away with a series win. They will enjoy an off day on Thursday before embarking on a 10-game road trip that will take them to St Louis, Baltimore and Philadelphia.