<p>NEW YORK -- As he has guided Julio Teheran through the first two months of this season, Braves backup catcher Gerald Laird has gone with an approach similar to the one he utilized while sitting behind the plate for most of the starts a 20-year-old Rick Porcello made for the Tigers in 2009.</p><p>"You just can't ask them to do too much," Laird said. "You've got to bring them along slow and let them get their confidence. Then you gradually ask for a little bit more every time you go out."</p><p>When Teheran faces the Mets in front of a nationally televised audience on Sunday night at Citi Field, he will attempt to continue legitimizing the significant progress he has made over the past month. The 22-year-old right-hander has compiled a 2.41 ERA in his past five starts, and the Braves have won seven of the eight games he has started this year.</p><p>It would have been hard to predict this kind of success when Teheran allowed at least four earned runs in each of his first three starts this season. During that span, he relied heavily on his four-seam fastball and gained comfort with the two-seam fastball that he developed during the winter. His breaking balls and changeup were just show pitches.</p><p><a href="http://atlanta.braves.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20130525&content_id=48602344&notebook_id=48602886&vkey=notebook_atl&c_id=atl">Keep reading...</a></p>