Atlanta ? When the Atlanta Braves reach a milestone, it usually involves pitching. John Smoltz’s saves. Greg Maddux’s wins. All those Cy Young Awards in the 1990s.

This year, though, the masters of the mound have turned downright offensive.

The Braves are putting up some prodigious hitting numbers, an uncharacteristic turn of events for a team that had focused on pitching, pitching and, did we mention pitching?

The surge of offense reached a crescendo Wednesday when Atlanta became only the second team in baseball history to homer on its first three at-bats. Before making three outs, the Braves tied the franchise record with their fourth homer of the inning, on the way to a 15-3 victory over Cincinnati.

“We’re just crushing the ball,” manager Bobby Cox said.

The Braves went into Thursday’s off day leading the National League in virtually every hitting category, including average (.287), runs (5.8 per game), homers (80), total bases (911) and slugging percentage (.490).

Atlanta already has scored in double figures 10 times, one more than all of last season. At the current pace, the Braves will have 1,612 hits, 245 homers and 941 runs — which would easily break modern franchise records.

“I’m just trying to stay out of the way,” hitting coach Terry Pendleton said. “If you look at them, they’re just doing what they’re capable of doing.”

Last year, a confluence of injuries, tragedy and subpar seasons caused the Braves to struggle at the plate. They ranked eight in the NL with 164 homers and ninth in both average (.260) and runs (4.4 per game).

These days, there are no weaknesses. Everyone in the lineup is hitting at least .285, led by Gary Sheffield with an NL-leading .349. Sheffield, Andruw Jones and Javy Lopez are all among the league leaders with 13 homers; four other guys are on pace to hit more than 20 this season. Sheffield has 46 RBIs, Andruw Jones 44 and everyone else at least 21.

Rafael Furcal (.341) and Marcus Giles (.326) set things up at the top of the order. Sheffield, Chipper Jones and Andruw Jones are fearsome through the middle of the lineup. Robert Fick (.297, 5 homers, 27 RBIs), Vinny Castilla (.286, 9, 27) and Lopez (.297, 13, 27) make it difficult to pitch around anyone.

“Our lineup is incredible,” reserve infielder Matt Franco said. “It’s fun watching them hit. Every single guy is hitting for average, hitting for power, driving in runs.”