NEW YORK _ The Braves scored more in a five-run first inning Wednesday night against the Mets than they had scored while Julio Teheran was in a game in all but three of his 30 starts in 2016. And they did it against the team that Teheran has required the least amount of support when facing lately.
Teheran allowed only two hits before the seventh inning and Tyler Flowers matched a career high with four RBIs including a three-run double in the first inning for the Braves, who snapped a six-game losing streak with a 8-2 win against the Mets at Citi Field.
It was the second-most runs by the Braves this season and only the second time they scored more than five runs. They out-hit the Mets 16-5, and five runs in the first inning were two more than the Braves had scored in any inning in their first 18 games before Wednesday.
The Mets didn't get a hit until the fourth inning against Teheran (2-1), who allowed four hits and two runs in 61/3 innings with four walks and four strikeouts. He improved to 4-0 with a 0.91 ERA in his past seven starts against the Mets and has a 5-2 record and 2.39 ERA in 10 career starts at Citi Field.
The Braves hope a groin injury that forced hot-hitting second baseman Brandon Phillips from the game isn't serious. He was listed as day-to-day after leaving the game before the second inning. Phillips appeared to tweak his leg while fielding a ground ball by Mets leadoff hitter Michael Conforto.
Ender Inciarte led off the first inning with a walk and Phillips followed with a single to extend his hitting streak to 11 games. Phillips was thrown out trying to steal second with runners on the corners and Freeman batting, but not to worry: His teammates picked him up when the next four batters reached base on a Freeman walk, RBI singles from Matt Kemp and Nick Markakis and a throwing error on an Adonis Garcia grounder.
Freeman was initially called out trying to score from second on Markakis' hit to left field, but the Braves challenged and the ruling was overturned after replays showed Freeman slide inside the plate and around the tag.
With bases loaded, Flowers doubled to drive in three runs and push the lead to 5-0 as the crowd began to boo Mets starter Robert Gsellman in his 11th career start. The right-hander had an impressive 2.47 ERA in the first four innings of his previous major league outings and had sometimes run into trouble later in games, but the Braves jumped on him early on a night when Gsellman's control was spotty.
The Braves got five runs on four hits and two walks in the first inning and chased Gsellman in the fifth after three consecutive singles to start the inning from Markakis, Garcia and Flowers, the latter driving in a run to extend the lead to 6-1. Gsellman gave up 10 hits, six runs (five earned) and three walks in four-plus innings.
Teheran had the rare opportunity to bat before he threw a pitch, his lineout to second base ending the first inning after the Braves batted around. Staked to the kind of lead he rarely got a year ago, Teheran pitched as if determined not to squander any part of it.
Jay Bruce's leadoff double in the second inning accounted for the Mets' only base runner through three innings. After they loaded the bases with none out in the fourth on a leadoff walk and a pair of singles, Teheran got out of the inning giving up only one run on a sacrifice fly by Neil Walker.
Teheran was 7-10 with a 3.21 ERA in his 2016 All-Star season, when the Braves gave him a total of 70 support runs in 30 starts, a rate of 3.35 per nine innings pitched that was the lowest among National League starters.
