Inside the NL Wild Card Race

www.insidethemajors.com — Fri, 24 Sep 2010 21:39:53 +0000

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.

Braves Back on Top

admin — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 13:46:37 +0000

In what has been announced to be Hall of Fame manager Bobby Cox’s last season in the dugout, the Atlanta Braves are certainly taking their longtime manager on a roller coaster ride through the standings. Once dead and lifeless at the bottom of the NL East cellar, including a hitless outing against Rockies’ flame thrower Ubaldo Jimenez, the Braves have surged to a 2 game lead over the second place Philadelphia Phillies, including a 3 game sweep of the Phillies earlier this month. In a city where the Braves’ winning ways were once customary, this revival atop the standings stands in stark contrast to recent seasons. From 1991 to 2005, with the exception of the players’ strike in the 1994 season, the Braves won an unprecedented 14 straight pennants, with a lone World Series title in 1995. Since the 2005 season, the Braves have been sitting at home come October watching the playoffs from the other side of the television screen.This season is seen as a changing of the guard for the Atlanta Braves team as rookie sensation Jason Heyward, along with second year pitchers Tommy Hanson and Kris Medlen, comprise the young core of team that is suddenly bringing a lot of hope and optimism to fans in the Atlanta area. The return of another young arm, Jair Jurrjens, who has missed the majority of the regular season nursing a strained left hamstring, rounds out a top of the rotation that draws comparisons to the Maddux, Glavine, Smoltz trio that led the Braves to repeated success throughout the 90′s. As the recent winning trend has hit a hiccup on the road in L.A., we are reminded that this still has many weaknesses it will need to improve to stretch its season to October in a very competitive division. While they sport an otherworldly 19-6 record at home in the Ted, the Braves have struggled on the road, as many young teams do, posting a 14-18 mark.

Inside the Majors » Atlanta Braves

Inside the NL Wild Card Race

Braves Back on Top