ATLANTA - After being left off the Atlanta Braves' postseason rotation last fall, Julio Teheran has re-emerged as a reliable leader on a young staff.
Teheran's roll of superb starts is a big reason his team is back in first place and making a run at repeating as champion in the National League's East Division.
Josh Donaldson drove in the tiebreaking run in Atlanta's five-run fifth inning to win his rematch with Joe Musgrove, and Teheran allowed only one earned run Thursday as the Braves beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 6-5 to complete a four-game sweep at SunTrust Park.
The Braves have won seven straight to move into the division lead, 1 1/2 games ahead of idle Philadelphia. The Phillies will visit the Braves to start a three-game series Friday night.
Teheran (5-4) opened Thursday's game with two walks and needed 27 pitches to survive the first inning. He recovered, lasting six innings while giving up only three hits. He has allowed no more than one earned run in his past eight starts.
Atlanta manager Brian Snitker said he saw Teheran's renewed resolve in spring training.
"It was very evident to me that he was on a mission," said Snitker who was ejected in the fourth inning.
Teheran lowered his ERA to 2.92, a full run lower than last season's 3.94 mark, when he finished 9-9 and was in the bullpen for the NL Division Series loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers. He is on pace to challenge his career-best ERA of 2.89 in 2014, when he won 14 games.
"That's the way I want to pitch," Teheran, 28, said. "Last year, it doesn't mean I was bad, but it was up and down."
Atlanta closer Luke Jackson gave up Starling Marte's run-scoring single in the ninth before recovering for his 10th save in 15 chances this year.
The Pirates have lost seven straight after failing to hold an early 2-1 lead in this one.
Musgrove (4-7) struck out Donaldson in the first inning. It was their first meeting since Musgrove hit Donaldson with a pitch on Monday night, igniting a confrontation that led to both players' ejections. The short outing gave Musgrove the rare opportunity of making two starts in the same series.
"I was ready to go out and attack him like I normally would," Musgrove said. "I put that behind me. I can't go out there with that stuff lingering in the back of my mind or try to prove a point with him."
Musgrove hit Dansby Swanson with a first-inning pitch, but there was no sign of leftover bad feelings from the skirmish three days earlier.
Freddie Freeman's triple to the right-field corner in the fifth drove in Swanson to tie the game at 2-2. Donaldson, who is appealing his one-game suspension for his role in the confrontation, hit a single to right to drive in Freeman. Ozzie Albies added a two-run double to center field in the big inning.
The Braves' poor outfield defense had helped Pittsburgh take the lead in the fourth. Left fielder Matt Joyce lost Colin Moran's fly ball in the sun, then missed on a late lunge as Moran moved to second on the error. Moran scored when Elias Díaz doubled past a diving Ronald Acuña Jr. in center field.
Snitker was ejected by home plate umpire Tripp Gibson after his called third strike on Acuña ended the fourth with runners on first and second. Snitker's objection led to his second ejection this season and 11th of his career.
Musgrove faced five batters in the fifth without recording an out. He allowed six runs on nine hits and two walks.
The Pirates are last in the NL Central, nine games out of first, but manager Clint Hurdle said his players haven't quit. After trailing 6-2, Pittsburgh scored the last three runs of the game.
"We had the go-ahead run at the plate," Hurdle said, referring to the ninth-inning opportunity. "I love the fight."
Thursday's midday first pitch came less than 12 hours after the end of the Braves' rain-delayed 8-7 win in 11 innings, which gave them sole possession of first place in the division for the first time this season. Rookie left fielder Austin Riley tied Wednesday night's game with a solo homer in the ninth and scored the winning run on Albies' double off Michael Feliz.
Riley was hit by a pitch on his left hand to reach base in the 11th. Albies drove a gapper into right-center, and Riley slid headfirst across the plate to end the game.
Riley did not start Thursday's game but was used as a pinch-hitter in the seventh, with his groundout ended the inning.