The Braves will spend most of June at SunTrust Park, and they’ll need to make the most of it.
They entered Monday’s doubleheader against the New York Mets with an 11-9 home record against 19-12 on the road. That road mark includes their unspectacular recent trip, where the Braves dropped two of three in Philadelphia and Boston.
Even factoring in the eye-test, the Braves have looked much stronger away from Atlanta, despite the recent six-game trip.
“That’s just a baseball thing,” first baseman Freddie Freeman said.
But now they’ll have the chance to capitalize on frequently sleeping in their own beds.
June features just three road trips. The Braves travel to California to face the San Diego Padres and Los Angeles Dodgers June 4-10. They hit the road again for a brief two-game series in Toronto on June 19-20. They’ll conclude the month in St. Louis.
Everything in between makes for 15 home games. Ten of those games come against the cellar-dwelling Padres, Baltimore Orioles and Cincinnati Reds.
If the Braves are going to be a playoff team, this will be their chance to build ground. Their current eight-game homestand is their longest of the season thus far, and won’t be surpassed until a 10-game stand in mid-August.
Their home performance can’t be defined as a struggle with a winning record, but it’s felt that way. The Braves were obliterated by the San Francisco Giants in a three-game series at SunTrust Park in early May. They required a six-run ninth inning to avoid losing a series to the lowly Marlins a week ago.
“Your guess is as good as mine,” shortstop Dansby Swanson said of their underwhelming home play. “The only thing that comes to mind is sometimes when you go on the road for so long, you get accustomed to playing on the road. There are a few less responsibilities on the road. When you come home, there are some real-life responsibilities that happen. Sometimes we lose sight of that.
“It’s all about finding your rhythm and routine. It’s different home and on the road. I think we’re in a good spot now and we’re excited to be back here.”
Freeman agreed with Swanson: When you’ve played approximately 61 percent of your games on the road, it’s hard to develop a routine, especially when the home stands are often brief.
The Braves’ best player argued, however, their uninspiring home play is in part due to the scheduling. Freeman believes the team can find consistency with the home-friendly June.
“We’ve played more on the road than we have at home,” Freeman said. “I feel like when we get home, it’s always just nice to get home. Next thing you know, dry cleaning has to be picked up again and we’re back on the road again. It’s nice to be home. I don’t think we have a three-city series here until like August, it feels like. So we’re going to be on the road a lot early on. Luckily we’re playing well there.”
Indeed, the team’s road success has ascended it into first place in the National League East.
The Braves swept the Mets in New York to open May. It wrapped up a 7-3 road trip that started with two losses in Cincinnati before the team promoted super prospect Ronald Acuna. They went on to split the Reds series and win the set in Philadelphia before traveling to Queens.
Then came the Giants’ demolition at SunTrust, prompting spectators to push the brakes on the suddenly formidable Braves.
Turns out, they just needed to hit the road again. The Braves went 6-1 on the ensuing trip, two-game sweeping the Rays, taking three of four in Miami and slipping by the Cubs in a makeup game at Wrigley Field.
As Freeman pointed out, it’s not the worst result that the Braves are already through 38 percent of their road schedule entering the third month of the season.
They’ve managed through some tougher trips, including Colorado, Washington, Philadelphia, Chicago and Boston. Their hope now is that they’ll hold an upper-hand as the home schedule heavies and the weather grows hotter.
“That’s what you think about when we were winning back then,” Freeman said of the imminent scolding southern summers. “We always said when teams came in in July and August, we had the advantage because we’re playing in 100 degrees and we’re used to it. They’re coming in from L.A., San Diego and getting beat down by the heat. Hopefully that plays into our favor.”
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