Braves use one of their classic comebacks to sweep Astros in Houston

“No, absolutely,” he said. “If you were to ask me if I would rather be clicking now or at the end of the year, I’d say at the end of the year. To be able to kind of face all the things that might not be doing well right now, to correct them now, to be able to keep progressing throughout the year — whether it’s 27, 28, however many more starts I have, it’s important to just keep learning based off the last one and (continue to) get better. This team will do exactly what we did today, where if you keep it close and give them a chance to scratch a few across, we have a good chance of winning.”

— 4. Marcell Ozuna didn’t waste much time extending his MLB-best hitting streak to 16 games. And he did it in a loud way.

In the first inning, he launched a 432-foot solo homer to left-center field. The blast, which tied the score, left the bat at 112 mph.

It was smoked.

Ozuna’s eight homers and 23 RBIs lead all of baseball.

“He’s on fire,” Fried said. “There’s just no other way to say it. He’s taking great at-bats every single time he gets up there. You know he’s going to do some damage or at least hit the ball hard somewhere. He doesn’t look fooled. He’s really balanced, and he has a really good approach.”

— 5. After Thursday’s off-day, the Braves welcome the defending World Series champions, the Texas Rangers, to Truist Park. And a note on where to watch: Friday’s game is on Apple TV+, and Sunday night’s game is on ESPN.

The Braves will start Chris Sale, Charlie Morton and Darius Vines, in that order. Vines earned another start by holding the Astros to a run over 4 2/3 innings.

Stat to know

79 — In one of the observations, we talked about Acuña going 65 at-bats without a homer to begin the season. Dating to last season, he had gone 79 at-bats without a homer — the longest drought of his career.

Quotable

“He’s got a slow heartbeat. I like seeing him in big situations. Even last year, he had a lot of big hits. He doesn’t get caught up in all the excitement and whatever. He stays calm and slows the game down and allows himself a chance.” — Braves manager Brian Snitker on Arcia

Up next

Friday’s series opener versus the Rangers begins at 7:20 p.m.