ATLANTA -- The past two days have seen the Braves start to rise from what they have to hope will prove to be their low point of the season. Now, they can only hope to continue feeding off the renewed energy Ozzie Albies helped provide while finishing a triple shy of the cycle in a 9-1 win over the Cardinals on Friday night at Truist Park.

“Ozzie is an unbelievable player,” starting pitcher Max Fried said. “So, it’s nice to see him rolling.”

The Braves are also happy to be rolling again. Think about where they stood Wednesday night, after the bullpen squandered yet another late lead in a second straight 10-8 loss to the Red Sox. They were a season-high five games below .500 and reliever A.J. Minter was likening the team’s struggles to “getting punched in the face every night.”

There didn’t seem to be much hope for a team that had lost six of seven games. But by winning the first two games of this Cardinals series, the Braves have shown resilience and proven they have strength within both their rotation and lineup.

“That was a rough stretch we had there,” manager Brian Snitker said. ”We're not out of the woods yet. But it's good to see how these guys compartmentalize and come every day and prepare to play a new game. I told them, ‘I don't care how bad you're going, or whatever. I always kind of feel like today's the day you're gonna come start something really good.”

By scoring at least eight runs for the third time within the four games, a depleted offense once again shined. But much of the credit for this latest victory has to go to Fried, who allowed a leadoff double to Tommy Edman and then just one more hit over seven innings. His gem nearly matched the one thrown by Charlie Morton, who limited St. Louis to three hits over 7 2/3 dominant innings on Thursday.

But while it’s certainly encouraging to see the team’s top two starters help create a positive tone, the Braves have to be thrilled by what they continue to receive from an offense that has been without starting catcher Travis d’Arnaud (since May 1) and Marcell Ozuna (since May 26).

Even without these two big bats, the Braves rank fourth among NL teams in runs (330) and second in home runs (98). One of Friday's homers came from rookie catcher William Contreras, who had been struggling this month. Contreras began the four-run second with a solo shot and Albies capped it with a two-run homer off Cardinals starter Carlos Martínez.  

Albies also doubled and scored on Austin Riley’s single in the first. His RBI single in the four-run fourth left him a triple shy of the cycle, but a strikeout and flyout in his subsequent at-bats quashed any thoughts of completing the feat.

Albies said he didn’t even know about the cycle until a clubhouse attendant told him he was a triple shy after the game.

“It's amazing what he does,” Snitker said of the second baseman. “I mean, you look at the track record and it just impresses me how consistent he stays. There are no emotional ups and downs. It's just an even-keeled, professional approach all the time.”

Albies is hitting .257 with 10 homers and an .824 OPS this season. He’s tied for the MLB lead with five triples and his 36 extra-base hits rank second in the National League (trailing only the Reds' Nick Castellanos). The 24-year-old switch hitter has positioned himself to possibly be in the starting lineup for next month's All-Star Game at Coors Field. He led all NL second basemen when balloting results were released earlier this week.

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“I don’t think anybody would ever say they don’t want to go to the All-Star Game,” Albies said. “It’s something fun and enjoyable. It’s something you’ll never forget in your life.”

Elsewhere in the Braves lineup, Ronald Acuña Jr. extended his MLB-best current on-base streak to 26 games and Freddie Freeman notched his third consecutive multi-hit performance. More importantly, the third big offensive onslaught of the week wasn’t squandered by the bullpen, whose struggles were extended during the Red Sox series.  

With the help of Albies, the Braves righted themselves a little more. The team is far from where it wants to be. But for now, it should just be thankful it is not in the desolate spot it seemed to inhabit on Wednesday. 

“We’re definitely looking like the team that we know that we can be,” Fried said. “It’s just about coming out tomorrow and doing the same thing.”