Braves’ home start is their best since 1997

When the Braves won their first 10 home games in 1983, Pascual Perez was the starting and winning pitcher in the 10th home win.

When the Braves won their first 10 home games in 1983, Pascual Perez was the starting and winning pitcher in the 10th home win.

The Braves entered Tuesday night’s series opener against the Nationals riding a five-game winning streak and with a 4-0 record at SunTrust Park, which was not just their longest season-opening home winning streak in 20 years, but also the longest by any major league team to open a new ballpark in that span.

The last team to win more than four in a row at home at home in new ballpark that was their regular home ballpark? That would be the 1997 Braves, who won their first five games at Turner Field, which had just opened for baseball after being retrofitted following the 1996 Olympics.

That Braves team was 101-61, won the National League East and swept the Astros in a best-of-five division series before losing to the Marlins in the NL Championship Series.

Before Tuesday, this year’s team still wasn’t halfway to the longest home winning streak to start a season in Atlanta Braves history. That was a 10-game home streak to start the 1983 season at old Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium. Manager Joe Torre’s 1983 Braves went 46-34 at home and 88-74 overall to finish second in the NL West.