MILWAUKEE – Their record was still the worst in the major leagues, but no one’s been laughing at the Braves this past week while they won consecutive series at home against the Pirates and on the road against the Cardinals, and particularly in the two weekend games at St. Louis.
After hitting a season-high four homers – all with runners on base – and scoring a season-high 13 runs in Saturday’s 13-5 win at Busch Stadium, the Braves scored six runs early against Adam Wainwright in Sunday’s 6-3 decision, their eighth win in 12 games.
And get this: Entering Monday’s series opener at Milwaukee, the Braves led the National League and ranked second in the majors with a .275 average since All-Star break, after ranking last in the majors with a .237 average before the break.
They were also fourth in doubles (43) and tied for fourth in triples (five) since the break, and had more home runs (15) since the break than the vaunted Chicago Cubs (14).
“We have been playing good,” Braves interim manager Brian Snitker said before batting practice Monday. “And that hitting thing is contagious. If I knew how to get it going, I wouldn’t be sitting here. It’s just one of those things you can’t explain. But it’s nice to see.”
Though they still were tied for third-fewest homers in league since break, it was a major improvement for a Braves team that had just 55 before the break – 20 fewer than the next-lowest NL total and 42 below the NL average before the break. But their relative offensive surge has been more about having multiple guys hot at one time, getting timely hits, than it has been about home runs. They didn’t homer in Sunday’s win.
After rarely have more than one or perhaps two hitters going well at once for any significant stretch in for most of the first half, the Braves have lately had Nick Markakis, Ender Inciarte, Adonis Garcia and even Erick Aybar all hitting well simultaneously.
“It’s contagious,” said Markakis, batting .304 with a .360 OBP and 30 RBIs in 56 games since June 5, including .327 with four homers, a .395 OBP and .490 slugging percentage in his past 29 games before Monday. “When you’re losing it’s tough to get out of the hole, and to do it with a young team is even more challenging. And like I said before, it’s baby steps.
“Guys are up here, they’re kind of getting thrown in the fire in ways that – that’s a good way to learn. You learn from failure. I believe in that 100 percent. I’ve gone through it myself. You learn from your mistakes, you build on it and you correct them.”
The Braves were 10-12 since the All-Star break, but their improvement began a lot earlier. Before Wednesday they were 23-24 with a 3.94 ERA, .263 batting average, 194 runs and 43 homers in 47 games since June 15.
This after threating historically bad marks when they started out 18-46 with a 4.63 ERA, .230 batting average, 201 runs and 27 homers in 64 games through June 14.
The performance of a handful of lineup regulars including Jace Peterson over the past couple of months has helped ease the burden on Freddie Freeman, who has been toggled between scoring and ice cold lately, without the team’s offense being directly tied to his output as it was earlier in the season.
Garcia his .359 with 12 doubles, four homers and a .400 OBP and .592 slugging percentage in his past 26 games before Wednesday. Aybar, arguably the worst hitter in the majors in the first two-plus months of the season, has enjoyed a recent resurgence, batting .357 with eight RBIs and a .431 OBP in his past 17 games.
And don’t underestimate the impact of veteran slugger Matt Kemp, who’s been with the Braves for one week after coming from San Diego in a trade for Hector Olivera. His 24 homers before Friday were five more than Freeman for the team lead, and no other Brave had as many as 10.
It’s probably no coincidence the Braves had their highest three-game series scoring output at St. Louis (despite being shut out, 1-0, in the opener). Kemp had a two-run homer Saturday and doubled and drove in a run Sunday.
He had seven strikeouts and only two hits in his first five games for the Braves, but Kemp in the cleanup spot behind Freeman has allowed other hitters to relax and forced opposing teams to game-plan for more than just Freeman.
Kemp led the NL with 16 home runs in road games before Monday, and the Cubs’ Kris Bryant (11) was the only NL hitter with more homers off left-handed pitchers than Kemp (nine).
“We all know what type of player he is and what he’s going to bring every day,” Markakis said. “We’re happy to have him, excited. It’s fun to watch him play every day.”
