The ups
Evan Gattis, come on down. A game-winning 10th-inning homer on Monday and a game-winning pinch-hit double on Wednesday won the Marlins series.
Even the Braves’ glory rotations of the 1990s would be pressed to match the starting pitching from last week’s two series. In six games, Atlanta starters allowed 27 hits and six earned runs in 41 innings, good for a 1.32 ERA. They struck out 47 and walked 12.
After 21 games, the Braves were seven games over .500, good enough for a 2 1/2-game lead in the NL East. After 21 games last year, the Braves were nine games over .500, good for a four-game lead.
Atlanta had a 6-3 record at Turner Field entering the weekend. They are in the middle of a scheduling period with 15 of 18 games at home.
The downs
Dan Uggla’s glove. Just when his bat might be coming around, the second baseman had a horrible week in the field. He committed four errors in the past two series, leading to three unearned runs. One of those wound up in a 4-3 loss to the Mets. His seven errors are the most among major league second basemen.
How does this happen? Alex Wood allowed two earned runs in his last two starts and went 0-2. How? The Braves were shut out both games. Atlanta scored two or fewer runs eight times in the first 21 games (38 percent).
Rookie reliever Gus Schlosser might be pitching himself out of a job. He entered the weekend having been scored on in four straight outings. The line: 6 1/3 innings, 6 hits, 6 earned runs.
Hot
Over his previous 13 games entering the weekend, Justin Upton hit .362 with eight extra-base hits, five homers and 12 RBIs.
Rookie left-handed reliever Ian Thomas is making the losses of Eric O’Flaherty and Jonny Venters a little less acute. With one run allowed in his first seven appearances, he entered the weekend tied with Anthony Varvaro for lowest ERA (1.69) in the bullpen.
Jason Heyward took a five-game hitting streak into the weekend, with eight hits in 22 at-bats (.364).
Not
Heyward was still hitting .105 against left-handed pitching.
Situational hitting still lags. Atlanta entered the weekend batting .219 with runners in scoring position. With men on and two outs, the average dropped to .191.
B.J. Upton upped his home average to .250 but was still hitting .180 on the road.
Questions
Has closer Craig Kimbrel steadied himself after a squirrelly few outings?
What impact will Mike Minor have when he rejoins the rotation?
Can the Braves win when they don’t hit a home run?
Answers
Closers are creatures of habit and Kimbrel’s six-day layoff with a sore shoulder impacted his effectiveness more than the team anticipated. But his track record indicates he profits from steady work. Watch the shoulder.
Minor shouldn’t be expected to match the way the club’s starting pitchers have performed. They’ve been the best in baseball. Give Minor five starts and then compare.
They haven’t yet shown an inclination for winning without the long ball. They were 2-6 in homer-less games.
Thoughts
After striking out a whopping 37 times in three games with the Marlins last week, could it be possible this team is more swing-happy than last year’s Braves, who tied the Mets for most whiffs in the league (1,384)? They might well be. With 201 strikeouts in their first 21 games, the 2014 Braves were on pace to strike out 1,550 times.
