Notwithstanding Osvaldo Bido’s bid to make things interesting, that game was about as comfortable a display of this team’s strengths as you could like.

I’d better start by praising the starting pitching, because Bryce Elder had another fine game. I’ve disbelieved in him so consistently that he deserves to have me say it up top: I’m eating crow, because he looks like a perfectly cromulent back-end starter. He’s done a whole lot of work and his pitches really do appear sharper. His velocity is still pedestrian and he doesn’t have any margin for error, but he looks like he’s gone from an emergency starter to a solid option. For my money, he’s upgraded himself from Jeff Bennett to Russ Ortiz.

But it all worked, just about. Papa Michael Harris went 0-4, which I can more or less forgive as long so he’s changing his share of diapers when he’s home. All the other regulars hit safely, and Austin, Matt, and Ozzie each hit a bomb. In both the fifth and seventh, Ronald and Drake had back-to-back hits. In addition to the laser beam home run that Austin pulled to left, he hit one just as hard and nearly as far to deep center, doubling off the wall. He’s pointing to a newspaper with today’s date on it, folks – Austin’s showing some serious proof of life.

The game was reasonably close for a little while, as the Braves scored two in the second and then went into hibernation for a time. And in the fifth, it looked like Bryce was about to give it all back, loading the bases with one out. But he coaxed a ground ball, and after the Braves made a successful challenge, the umpires agreed that he had indeed induced an inning-ending double play, disallowing a run that they had initially ruled to have scored. The following inning, the Marlins pulled their starter, and right on time, the Braves offense came to life.

Other than Bido, the pen did its job, as Dylan Lee, Tyler Kinley, Robert Suarez, and Raisel Iglesias twirled three innings, allowing but one hit and one walk. The latter two might never have come into the game had it not been for Osvaldo’s eighth inning. After Xavier Edwards made a quick out, the next batter, Otto Lopez, fouled a ball off himself, and there was an injury delay. Bido never recovered; Lopez singled, then the next batter homered, then the next man singled, then Bido uncorked two straight wild pitches; the latter brought the count to full, and on his final pitch of the night, he completed the walk.

Weiss had to bring in Robert Suarez to get out of the mess, and he got two straight ground balls to end the inning. Unfortunately, the first was one of those soft choppers that winds up in a run-scoring fielder’s choice where everybody’s safe, but the second was a double play. At that point, we all knew Raisel was going to pitch the ninth. He was brilliant, and got his 257th save, his 101st in an Atlanta uniform.

Oh, and my wife was tickled pink to see the outfielders bouncing all together while doing their latest silly victory dance.

This is a good-looking team. It’s a long season and a long summer – it was 90 degrees in our nation’s capital this Tax Day! – and I’m sure we’ll find plenty to gnash our teeth about before too long. But I’m savoring this for now. This particular club is among the best in the majors at hitting and pitching and is consequently tops in the majors in run differential.

On to Philadelphia, where the Phillies are reeling, having gone 3-7 in their last ten games, getting outscored 51-30 over the period. Tonight, the Cubs shellacked them 11-2. Of course, they’d love nothing more than to reverse their fortunes by rubbing our nose in their pain, so I expect this to be a really tough series. But it sure would feel good to kick them while they’re down.

See you tomorrow!