The dog days of summer have taken a toll on the Atlanta Braves' offense, but fear not. There is a reason to believe that brighter days are ahead on this current homestand. For one, they ran into a buzzsaw part of their schedule in August. The tough run for Atlanta included the New York Yankees, the New York Mets right when they're playing good baseball, the Arizona Diamondbacks while Brandon Pfaadt is pitching on another level, and the Jacob Misiorowski-led, MLB-best Milwaukee Brewers. That’s enough to make any lineup buckle.However, the Braves are about to begin a seven-game homestand that lines up perfectly for them. First off, they welcome the Los Angeles Dodgers to town. Yes, the Dodgers are part of that gauntlet, as they sit just a game behind the Brewers in the National League playoff picture, but the Braves are catching them at the right time. The Dodgers are winners of six straight games, but that streak came at the hands of the struggling Colorado Rockies and Pittsburgh Pirates. Prior to that, the Dodgers were 4-11 in August.Perhaps even more encouraging for Atlanta is how the Dodgers’ rotation lines up for the series.The Braves will face Tyler Glasnow on Tuesday, who will make his first start since May 6 with a back injury. If the Braves are fortunate, there will be plenty of rust to shake off. Roki Sasaki toes the rubber on Wednesday, and he has struggled to find consistency as a starter. Yoshinobu Yamamoto gets the ball in the finale, but all things being equal, that’s a pretty good draw for the series. After the Dodgers leave town, Atlanta welcomes in the Colorado Rockies, whose offensive production suffers greatly away from Coors. After that, the Braves welcome the lowly San Francisco Giants to town for a makeup game for the July 18 rainout. The Braves have reached a soft part of their schedule at the right time, and even though their offense has hit the skids lately, the pitching has picked the team up. Even in recent losses, Atlanta’s pitching staff keeps it close and gives the offense a chance. This offense is too talented to stay down long, and the Braves are still near the top of the National League standings. Matt Olson is becoming one of the best players in baseball. Michael Harris II and Drake Baldwin will both post career highs in almost every offensive category, and Austin Riley has continued to turn his season around, hitting .278 in August with an .807 OPS. The sky is not falling. The light at the end of the tunnel is near. Philadelphia may be heating up, but this could be a golden opportunity for Atlanta to turn the tide and stay ahead of the suddenly surging Phillies. With the lead in the NL East down to just a few games, Atlanta must seize this opportunity or risk falling behind. Personally, I’m not too worried about the Braves. Slumps happen. They are not called dog days for nothing. I think this team will be fine, but now they have a prime chance to get back on track.Sign up for our Free Atlanta Braves Newsletter and follow us on Facebook for the latest newsAdd us as a preferred source on GoogleFollow