THIS IS IT

Here is another article regarding this recent surge… Just to put this surge in historical perspective, it’s one of the greatest of all time.

Records are stacking up
By Mark Bowman / MLB.com

ST. LOUIS —Whenever an employee at The Elias Sports Bureau has picked up the phone over the past week, there’s a good chance Braves media relations assistant Adam Liberman has been on the other line.
While serving as the team’s media relations representative during this current road trip, Liberman has had plenty of reason to call Elias, which in turn has put the Braves’ recent offensive flurry in historical perspective.

“I’ve never been a part of anything like this at any level,” catcher Brian McCann said. “Everybody in the lineup is going up there with a good approach and getting the runners in when they’re in scoring position.”

McCann is just in his second Major League season, but veterans like Chipper Jones and John Smoltz also can say they’ve never experienced anything like this road trip. During the first five games, the Braves have hit .380 with 20 homers, a .742 slugging percentage and .441 on-base percentage.

According to Elias, this is the most homers any Braves team has ever hit in a five-game stretch. Their 23 homers over the past six games is an NL record. During a six-game stretch, the Major League record is 24 homers, set by the 1977 Red Sox.

In terms of franchise history, the 65 runs the Braves have scored since the All-Star break are the most in a five-game stretch since the 1897 Boston Beaneaters. It’s the highest five-game total in the Majors since 1950, when the Red Sox tallied 66 runs in a five-game stretch.

Adding further historical perspective to the dominance they’ve displayed this week, the Braves are the first team since the 1930 Yankees to produce a double-digit run total in five consecutive games.

“We just want to play like we’re capable of playing and put the first half behind us,” said Andruw Jones, who has produced 15 of his National League-leading 87 RBIs in his past six games.

All of this power and production has followed a miserable June, during which Adam LaRoche, McCann and the Jones boys (Chipper Jones included) combined for 12 homers. During the past five games, that quartet has belted 16 homers.

“You know what they say,” manager Bobby Cox said. “’It’s just baseball, stop trying to figure it out.’”

Braves, Sports