As the Braves come off a three game chunker at the hands of the Philadelphia Phillies in what was the next to last time the two teams will square off in the regular season, Atlanta now officially joins the heated National League Wild Card race alongside the San Francisco Giants, San Diego Padres and the Colorado Rockies. Sitting 6 games out of pennant position in the NL East, the Wild Card represents the Braves last chance at returning to the post-season this year, in what is manager Bobby Cox’s final tour of duty before heading off into baseball history. Of the three NL West teams, at least one is assured a playoff spot as division winner, though there certainly isn’t room for all three as in a best case scenario, at least one team in their time zone would join the Braves on the golf course (or anywhere else besides the baseball diamond) in October.Right now the Giants hold a half game lead in the West, with the Padres a close second and the Rockies 3.5 games off the pace. The Braves and Giants actually sport identical 86-67 records heading into the weekend, meaning the Pads are a half game back in the Wild Card race as well. While based on strength of schedule, odds makers would predict the Braves to emerge victorious with the National League’s final playoff spot, Atlanta has struggled on the road. The Braves boast the best home mark in baseball at 52-23 (the Phils actually have 53 wins, but have 5 extra home losses marring their record), but have stumbled to a 34-44 total on the road. With the Mets and Nationals series both set to take place in unfriendly confines, before returning to Atlanta to face the Marlins and the hotter-than-Hades Phillies once again, anything can still happen in the season’s final two weeks. The Braves Giants and Padres look to be on equal playing field going forward, largely due to where the games are played, with the Rockies looming large as a dark horse contender, as only two teams will continue to play into mid-October.