Julio Teheran helps Braves stop losing skid in 5-3 win over Rockies

Things didn't start well for Julio Teheran on Monday evening, but he settled down in a hurry. That was all that the Atlanta Braves needed to snap a seven-game losing streak with a 5-3 victory over the Colorado Rockies.

Rockies outfielder Charlie Blackmon led off the evening at Turner Field with a home run, and Ben Paulsen followed that up with a solo blast of his own in the second inning. From there, though, Teheran was nearly spotless for a long period of time, setting down 16 of 17 Colorado hitters at one point. In total, he allowed only four hits and three earned runs (the last of which came in the eighth inning after he exited) across 7.1 innings of work.

As good as Teheran was, however, the Braves did need some offense to stop the bleeding of a long losing streak, and Jonny Gomes got things started early in his own right. Gomes provided a two-run home run in the first inning (sandwiched between Colorado's two blasts), and Adonis Garcia hit another long-ball to give Atlanta a 3-2 lead that the team would never relinquish.

Later, Gomes would add an RBI single in the fifth and Nick Markakis would increase the cushion to 5-2 with an RBI double in the sixth. The Rockies would threaten a bit by putting up the aforementioned run in the eighth inning, but Atlanta's two-run advantage stood up, and the bullpen combination of Edwin Jackson and Arodys Vizcaino slammed the door for the 5-3 win.

It hasn't been the best season for either Julio Teheran or the Atlanta Braves, but both pitcher and team performed well on Monday, and that is a good sign for the remainder of this week's series against Colorado.