The Braves scored 49 runs in their first 10 games at SunTrust Park before Thursday, averaging 4.9 to rank 11th in the majors and seventh in the National League in home scoring.
The problem for the Braves was their opponents scored 60 runs, an average of 6.0 that was higher than any opponents’ average in the majors other than altitude-challenged Colorado, where opponents were averaging 6.15 runs at Coors Field.
It is an admittedly small sample size, as the Braves — 5-5 at home before Thursday — had played the fewest home games in the majors and half of those 60 runs were scored in the past three nights by the Mets. The Braves and Mets were set for the finale of a four-game series Thursday.
After holding the Padres to a total of 10 runs in a four-game Braves sweep to open SunTrust Park, the Braves gave up 20 runs in three games while being swept by the Nationals. They lose two of the first three to the Mets in the third series at SunTrust including a season-worst 16-5 loss on Wednesday.
While the Braves and manager Brian Snitker have talked plenty about the smaller power-alley dimensions at SunTrust Park and how much better the ball seems to carry there than it did at Turner Field, the Braves hit a modest nine homers in their first 10 home games before Thursday, an average of 0.9 per game that ranked 25th in baseball for home teams. Scorching-hot Freddie Freeman had four of the Braves’ first nine homers at SunTrust Park, and Ender Inciarte had three.
Opponents had fared better with long balls at SunTrust Park, with 14 homers in 10 games for an average of 1.4 per game that was the sixth-highest among visiting teams at any major league ballpark through Wednesday’s games.
Braves pitchers had a majors-worst 5.90 home ERA before Thursday.
