Braves brimming with confidence

By DAVID O'BRIEN

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

After their attention-grabbing series win at Los Angeles against a Dodgers team that came in with baseball’s best record, the Braves will try to reel in National League East-leading Philadelphia this weekend.

But first, there’s a two-game matchup with the NL’s hottest team, the Washington Nationals.

Yes, the Washington Nationals.

“I think they’ve proved to the rest of the league this past week that they are not to be taken lightly,” Braves right fielder Matt Diaz said of the Nats, who’ve temporarily cast aside laughingstock status by churning out eight straight wins.

They were 40 games under .500 just 10 days ago, but now the Nationals are even hotter than the Braves. The Braves won five of the last six on a seven-game trip that ended Sunday, including three in a row against the Dodgers.

Barely a week after their postseason chances appeared tenuous (at best), the Braves are now 4-1/2 games behind the division-leading Phillies, who were swept at home in a weekend series against second-place Florida.

“Just goes to show you what a good stretch of ball will do for you,” third baseman Chipper Jones said of the Braves’ position. “We’ve played ourselves back into it. Now we’ve got to play good ball against teams we should beat.”

After missing the last three games of the Dodgers series with a strained left oblique, Jones was optimistic about playing Tuesday after the team’s day off Monday.

The Braves have the league’s best record (24-14) since June 28, and they play 13 of their next 16 at home.

“We’ve got a little warmup series against Washington before Philly comes to town,” Jones said. “It’s important not to overlook anyone. We’ve got to play well against Washington.”

“We have to keep playing like we have been,” said Braves ace Javier Vazquez, who is 5-0 in his past six starts, including two wins on the trip. “Washington is playing well. We can’t let our guard down.”

The Braves have no excuse for looking past them, considering the Nationals have won five of nine between the teams this season, including four of the past six. The Braves are 7-2 against the Phillies.

“Maybe now that they’re hot, we can beat them when nobody else can,” Diaz said of the Nationals. “Because when everybody else beat them, we couldn’t.”

After losing 15 of 18 through July 20, the Nationals have won 14 of 20. The’ve hit .322 with a 3.88 ERA during their eight-game streak, including sweeps against Florida and Arizona

Meanwhile, the Braves are brimming with confidence after a California trip that featured steady pitching and the best run of timely hitting they’ve have had all season.

“It’s funny how things can change on a dime,” said Jones, who sounded entirely unconvinced at the Braves’ playoff viability after Thursday’s wrenching loss. Three days later, his outlook had been altered.

“Before you know it, you’re right there,” he said. “Now, got to seize the opportunity.”