The Braves took three of four from the Padres this weekend before three sell-out crowds, completing a 5-1 homestand.
Two consecutive wins pushed the Braves a season-high 13 games over .500.
Here’s what to know about the Braves’ recent success:
1. This weekend gave the Braves a little separation from the Nationals atop the National League East. The Braves hold a 3.5-game lead, their best of the year. The Braves have spent 43 of the past 45 days in first place.
2. San Diego’s a last-place team, but it hadn’t played like it. This was the Padres’ first series loss since May 25-27 against the Dodgers. They’d won five series in a row.
3. Julio Teheran, who struck out 11 on Sunday, along with Shane Carle, A.J. Minter and Arodys Vizcaino struck out 17 Padres. It was the most strikeouts the Braves have piled up since Sept. 14, 2012, when they also posted 17 strikeouts.
4. The Braves’ rotation is their backbone. Over the past 11 home games, it’s earned a 1.00 ERA (eight earned runs in 72 innings) with no starter permitting more than two runs. The team entered Sunday with the third-lowest ERA in the majors (3.29).
5. Tyler Flowers, who subbed into Sunday’s game after Kurt Suzuki’s head injury, had two hits and a late insurance home run.
The homer came off All-Star reliever Brad Hand. Flowers has an affinity for homering off All-Stars. His shots have come off Max Scherzer, Jose Quintana, Jacob deGrom and Hand.
