Given the chance to halt his recent struggles,
“You know, there's so many highs and lows in this game and streaks and slumps,” Smyly said. “It definitely feels good just to get back in the winning circle and then help these guys win.”\n\nThere were a lot of things to like -- or be relieved about -- for the Braves, who opened this six-game road trip with three losses to the Blue Jays. They enter this weekend’s battle against the first-place Phillies sitting 1 1/2 games back in the National League East and feeling a little better about Ozuna, Smyly and their under-construction bullpen.
“Last night and today, those were tough games to win,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said. “There were a lot of gut-wrenching moments. It’s fun when you come out on top.”\n\nThe gut-wrenching moments included:\n\n• After Smyly exited with one on and none out in the seventh,
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“It's never easy to win a Major League game,” Smyly said. “It’s never easy when you play 162 \\[games\\]. So, you just have to stay even-keeled and keep going. It’s a grind, physically and emotionally.”\n\nIt wasn’t a memorable first month for Smyly or Ozuna, whose double in the fourth scored
As Ozuna has tallied six of his seven extra-base hits within his past 10 games, the Braves have been given hope he will start producing like he did while leading the NL in homers last year.\n\nLikewise, after seeing Smyly limit the Nationals to four hits and one unearned run over six innings, the Braves are hoping he may soon become the pitcher they envisioned when he signed that one-year deal in November.\n\nSmyly certainly wasn’t that guy when he produced an 8.05 ERA and allowed nine homers in 19 innings entering Thursday. But as the 31-year-old veteran kept the ball in the yard in this most recent outing, he showed why he could be a valuable No. 4 or No. 5 starter.\n\n“You know, every game is a new game,” Smyly said. “It’s a new day to get better. There’s still a lot of work to do. I know I can continue to improve quite a bit. But it feels good to battle and grind out a solid, solid game.”\n\nSmyly didn’t have swing-and-miss stuff and he wasn’t baffling the Nationals with his four-seamer or curveball. But he kept himself ahead in the count while aggressively pounding the strike zone with his fastball.\n\n“Finding the fastball and being able to get ahead of guys is something you always want to do,” veteran catcher