The Atlanta Braves finished up their best series of the season with a 7-1 win over the Mets Thursday night behind another gem from their starting staff.

This time, it was Spencer Strider who delivered, tossing six innings of one-run baseball. And like Chris Sale before him, there weren’t a lot of stressful pitches for Strider on the evening. He allowed just five hits to go along with one walk and eight strikeouts, but all of those hits came in the first three innings for the Mets. Over the final three frames, Strider allowed just the one walk and tallied six of his eight strikeouts, another very encouraging sign for a pitcher still building up the strength to go deep into games.

This is a Braves club that has a lot of flaws. The offense can go dormant for weeks at a time. Left field and shortstop have been a black hole for several years. Ozzie Albies and Michael Harris’ respective struggles have been well-documented. Austin Riley isn’t living up to the billing of the highest-paid player in franchise history, and the bullpen is among the worst in baseball, leaving Brian Snitker with no idea who is going to close games from night to night.

However, what can’t be argued is that this might be the filthiest rotation in baseball, featuring a 1-2-3 punch that makes the Braves favorites to win every time they step onto the mound, and that was on full display against the Mets.

Spencer Schwellenbach‘s four earned runs over seven innings might not look eye-popping, and it wasn’t his best outing, but it doesn’t tell the entire story, with a poor defensive play on a bloop double into right field resulting in two of those runs. Chris Sale was nothing short of spectacular on Wednesday night, finishing just one batter shy of a complete game shutout, and then Spencer Strider sealed the sweep with perhaps his best outing of the season.

Those three guys alone should be all a general manager needs to go all-in at the trade deadline. If the Braves can find a way to sneak into the postseason with Sale, Strider, and Schwellenbach all healthy — even as currently constructed — they can compete with any team in the league.

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Photo: John Adams/Icon Sportswire