Braves visit Nationals in Free Game of the Day
Earlier in the season, it seemed inconceivable that the Atlanta Braves would finish anywhere but in last place in the NL East, and close to last in all of baseball. As recently as August 20, the Braves were 29.5 games back of first place, 13.5 games behind their closest competitor. They had just 44 wins, the least in baseball.
What a difference 14 games can make. Since then the Braves have gone 10-4, which includes a six-game winning streak. Their record is 54-83, and they’re just 6.5 games behind the fourth place Philadelphia Phillies. They even have more wins than the Minnesota Twins, who are the new owners of the worst record in baseball.
The Braves are playing like they have some new life, and you can watch them take on the Washington Nationals because it’s Yahoo Sports’ MLB Free Game of the Day! You can stream it on the Yahoo Sports app, Yahoo’s Sports Home, MLB index, video home and this very post. Local blackouts apply, per MLB rules. First pitch is scheduled for 4:05 p.m. ET.
Those six wins in their streak have been good ones, too. They’re not the type of wins where two bad pitchers are facing off in a slug-fest, or where neither team can manage to scratch out a run. In those six games, they scored more than five runs in all but one. They gave up more than four runs in only one game, and their pitching staff tossed a shutout on Sunday. That’s pretty good. Of course, those six wins came against two of the most futile teams in baseball, the San Diego Padres and the Phillies.
It’s worth mentioning that this big jump in the NL East standings — from 13.5 games to 6.5 games out of fourth place — wouldn’t have happened without the help of their fellow basement-dwellers the Phillies. While the Braves have won six in a row, the Phillies have lost six in a row, and it’s really helped the Braves see fourth place clearly. And considering the losses to the Phillies’ pitching staff, their last three match-ups against each other in late-September might look a lot like their recent series.
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But don’t count the Braves out on 2017’s first overall draft pick just yet. The rest of their schedule isn’t going to be very kind to them. They have 25 games left to play, and 22 of them are against NL East foes. Six against the Washington Nationals, six against the New York Mets, seven against the Miami Marlins, three more against the Phillies, and the final three are versus the resurgent Detroit Tigers. Those six against the Nationals are going to be tough — they have a 2-11 record when facing the Nats this season. Plus, the Mets will be battling hard for one of the Wild Card spots, and so will the Marlins and the Tigers.
So we really don’t know what chance the Braves have of staying out of baseball’s basement. They could continue their good showing, and perhaps transition those wins against baseball’s worst teams to wins against baseball’s best. But if they don’t, the team and their fans have a high draft pick to look forward to in 2017. That’s not a bad consolation prize for a season full of losing.
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Liz Roscher is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email her at lizroscher@yahoo.com or follow her on twitter! Follow @lizroscher
