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Braves set to debut Teheran against Phillies

May 7, 2011 - 2:42 PM (Sports Network) - Derek Lowe gutted out an excellent performance to help the Braves take the opener of their three-game series with the Phillies on Friday.

With Atlanta wanting to keep the rest of its rotation on regular rest, the club will call up top pitching prospect Julio Teheran for this evening's matchup at Citizens Bank Park.

Due to a doubleheader on Wednesday, the Braves would have needed one of their starters to pitch on short rest in Sunday's finale. However, Braves general manager Frank Wren instead decided to push Jair Jurrjens' start back a day to tomorrow and call up the 20-year-old Teheran from Triple-A Gwinnett for a spot start.

The right-handed Teheran, ranked the 10th best overall prospect in baseball by MLB.com, is 3-0 with a 1.80 earned run average in five starts with Gwinnett this season, striking out 25 to just eight walks. His only goal tonight is to pitch the Braves to a series victory before returning to the minors.

"[Teheran] has been told he'll come up [Saturday] and make just this one start, regardless of the results," Wren told Atlanta's website. "He understands, and he has the makeup to handle it."

Atlanta is in position for its first series win over Philadelphia since last July thanks to Friday night's 5-0 victory in which four Braves hurlers combined on a two-hit shutout. Lowe carried a no-hitter into the seventh inning before yielding back-to-back hits. He was then pulled from the game as he appeared to limp off the field.

"My stuff was deteriorating at a rapid pace," Lowe said. "This is about as mad as I can be for pitching good, because you feel like you're in a good rhythm, make good pitches when you want."

Eric O'Flaherty picked up Lowe in the seventh by striking out all three batters he faced and Alex Gonzalez paced Atlanta's offense with three hits and was one of five players to drive in a run as the Braves won their season-best sixth victory in a row.

Phillies starter Cliff Lee matched a club record for the most strikeouts in a game by a left-hander pitcher with 16, but yielded three runs on nine hits over seven innings to take the loss.

"I don't really care about the strikeouts that much, to be honest," Lee said. "We lost the game, so who cares?"

Philadelphia, which had won six of seven coming in, lost third baseman Placido Polanco in the seventh inning after he fouled a ball of his big right toe. He stayed in the game to hit a double, but was replaced by a pinch-runner.

The Phillies were hoping that Roy Oswalt would be able to make his first start since April 26, when he took a loss to Arizona and then left the club to return to his home in Mississippi, where tornadoes had caused massive damage. He returned to the club on Thursday, but was placed on the 15-day disabled list yesterday due to lower back inflammation.

The 26-year-old Kyle Kendrick will take Oswalt's place in the rotation for his first start of the season. Kendrick has made eight relief appearances this year, spanning 13 innings and going 1-2 with a 2.08 ERA. He last pitched on Monday in an extra-inning defeat to the Mets, throwing 46 pitches over three innings and taking the loss.

The right-hander, who made 31 starts last year, is 5-1 with a 2.55 ERA in 11 career outings versus Atlanta, including nine starts. He did face them once in relief this year on April 8 and did not allow a run.

The Phillies took two of three from the Braves in Atlanta in early April and have won seven of the past 10 meetings overall.