The Braves had the highest bullpen ERA in the majors at 4.81 before Wednesday, which made their major league record for consecutive wins in one-run home games all the more improbable.
Twenty in a row. Their 2-1 win against the Nationals on Tuesday was the 20th consecutive one-run home game won by the Braves, who last lost a home game decided by one run on April 28, a 13-12 loss to the Nationals.
Beginning with a 4-3 win against the Reds on May 1, the Braves had won all 20 of their games at Turner Field that had been decided by a single run, the last four of those wins coming by identical 2-1 scores.
Before the Braves broke it, the record was 18 consecutive wins in one-run home games, done three times, most recently by the Boston Red Sox during a period that spanned parts of the 2005-2006 seasons. In fact, all three previous teams that won 18 in a row did it over two-season spans.
The previous record for consecutive one-run home wins within a single season was 17 by the 1964 Baltimore Orioles.
The Braves had an overall 28-18 record in one-run games, a .609 winning percentage that ranked fourth in the majors before Wednesday behind Pittsburgh (36-17, .679), the Los Angeles Angels (33-16, .673) and the Chicago Cubs (33-21, .611).
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