ATLANTA -- Since the beginning of July, when a right thigh infection affected his final two starts before the All-Star break, Julio Teheran had struggled to establish a routine.
The infection ultimately gave way to a right lat strain that landed him on the disabled list for the first time in his career. And after posting a 2.46 ERA through his first 16 starts, he saw that mark rise to 3.15 upon his return.
But in Tuesday's 7-3 win over the Padres at Turner Field, the Braves' ace demonstrated the benefits of a normal regimen, allowing two runs on six hits while striking out eight in his third and most impressive start since coming off the DL and notching his first win at home since Oct. 2, 2015.
"Tonight, he looked like his old self," Atlanta manger Brian Snitker said. "He was just locking guys up. He's quick and had a good feel. That's what I remember him being. It was nice that we scored some runs and got him a win."
In his first two starts back with the Braves, Teheran had allowed nine runs on 17 hits in 11 innings. Most of that damage came against the D-backs on Aug. 24, when he gave up six runs on 11 hits.
But the 25-year-old quickly moved on from that outing vs. San Diego.
After slowly regaining his velocity on his four-seam fastball over his past two starts, Teheran turned to the pitch early and often on Tuesday, throwing it seven times on 11 pitches in a 1-2-3 first inning.
The right-hander hovered between 92 and 93 mph with the pitch for most of the game and topped out at 93.8 mph on a pitch to Ryan Schimpf in the fourth inning.
"When I was warming up, my fastball was really good," Teheran said. "I was like, 'This is the pitch I'm going to try to pitch and get people out with today.' It's nice to have my velocity back. Whenever you have all of your pitches right, you can pitch a good game."
And the All-Star did just that. A two-run homer by Oswaldo Arcía proved to be the only hiccup by Teheran, who rebounded from the elevated fastball to retire 10 of the final 12 batters he faced in his longest start since July 17 against the Rockies.
Backed by seven runs, Teheran, who entered Tuesday with a 3.22 ERA while receiving an average of 2.07 runs of support during his previous 11 home starts, parlayed his strong outing to his first win at Turner Field in nearly a year.
"There were a couple of games where I didn't have my best stuff, but I battled," said Teheran about his recent struggles. "I've been working in the bullpen like I was doing at the beginning of the year, and I'm glad I did really [well]."