A day may come when the streak fails, when we forsake our one-game streaks and break all inability to win or lose two games in a row.

But it is not this day!

This offense is as streaky as we’ve had in quite some time, and even so, I can’t remember a more extreme example of Hibernation Mode all year. Cardinals starter Jon Lester couldn’t get any of the first seven men out, yielding two walks, four singles, and a homer. It was 5-0 after the first and 6-0 after a Freddie Freeman solo shot in the second.

Naturally, the Braves only managed three hits the rest of the night: an infield nubber by Joc Pederson, a clean single by Freddie, and another hit by Max Fried, who’s hitting .294 and looked pretty comfortable, if not his dominating best. He was throwing too many pitches early, so it was nice to see him complete six solid innings. Still, even in Max’s good starts this year, he’s been closer to battling than cruising. It may be a matter of feel.

The offense we saw in the first couple of innings tonight really did look pretty good. Jorge Soler hit his first homer in a Braves uniform! Austin Riley and Joc Pederson both got two hits — one legit, one crappy doink apiece — even though the pitcher was a southpaw!

Notwithstanding everything else we all rationally know about these bums, who run hot and cold like Atlanta in March, there’s no doubting that this team’s a lot better on paper than it was two weeks ago, and the division is right there for the taking. The 2021 Braves will spend August and September proving whether they deserve to be just inside, or just outside, the playoff bubble.

You could squint at this team and start to get a vibe along the lines of Kinky Friedman’s classic gubernatorial campaign slogan:

“Why the hell not?”