‘A lot more fun when you win games’: Braves are 5-2 after the All-Star break

After a 9-14 June and 6-6 start to July, the Braves got back to their winning ways after the All-Star break by taking their first two series.

The competition, admittedly, wasn’t top notch, but winning is winning, and the Braves need to continue to keep collecting victories if they are to stave off the rival Phillies for the NL East crown. The Braves’ division lead is 4 1/2 games after a 6-5 win against the Padres on Thursday at Truist Park.

“We just want to play good ball. We know that if we play good ball, we’ll be in games, and that’s it,” Braves designated hitter Dominic Smith said. “We just want to compete and finish off games we know we should win, and we did that (Sunday).

“This group is very mature. Like I said months ago, we know the thing that is kind of hanging over our head, the big-picture thing. So, we’re just really trying to grind for that. And we know it’s not going to be easy, so that’s why we’re very focused and competitive on a daily basis.”

With Thursday’s win, the Braves are the third team in baseball to reach 60 wins. They got there on this past home stand by taking two of three games from the Rangers and three of four from the Padres.

They won three one-run games and lost another during the stretch, so they could just have easily gone 6-1 over the past seven — or 2-5, depending on one’s perspective. But the main point should be the Braves found a way to pull games out more nights than not, which wasn’t the case in June.

“I’ve said all along it’s a good group, man,” Braves manager Walt Weiss said. “Of course, it’s a lot more fun when you win games. There’s no doubt about that. But I never saw our guys take their foot off the gas, even during June when everything was difficult for us.

“Guys still show up the right way, still prepare the right way. That’s all you can do. There’s nothing else you can do. When you go out and compete, whatever happens, happens. But I don’t ever have to worry about this group. They take care of themselves.”

The Braves left town Thursday to head to Maryland, where they’ll face the Orioles in Baltimore for three games starting Friday. The Orioles (50-53) swept the Astros in Houston to begin the second half before losing a pair of games to the Red Sox in Boston.

Ronald Acuña Jr., on a rehab assignment with Triple-A Gwinnett, is expected to rejoin the team at some point over the weekend at Camden Yards, possibly as early as Friday.

Grant Holmes (6-4, 3.70 ERA) is scheduled to start Friday’s matchup for the Braves, Bryce Elder (6-6, 4.06) will get the ball Saturday and Reynaldo López (4-3, 3.95) will take the mound Sunday.

After visiting Baltimore, the Braves will go to New York to play the Mets at Citi Field, where they lost two of three games in mid-June. But this time around the Braves will be a much fresher squad, and they hope that translates into better results.

“I think you get a few days off, guys get their feet back underneath them. It’s been a grind,” Braves pitcher Chris Sale said. “I just feel like we never really caught our breath after that whole Chicago-New York trip (June 9-14). That was just an absolute nightmare.