The Atlanta Braves nearly capped off a perfect weekend last night with three wins against the Dodgers.
Charlie Morton, who continues to prove he’s not quite ready to retire yet, was fantastic again, going six innings and allowing just one run. He would leave the game with a 2-1 lead, but the Dodgers would tie it in the seventh, thanks to Shohei Ohtani‘s second RBI double of the night.
The Braves would have a golden opportunity to regain the lead the following inning, as a leadoff walk followed by a hard double off the right field wall from Matt Olson put runners at second and third with nobody out. However, a short flyout and a couple of strikeouts left both runners stranded, and the floodgates would open in the ninth with Raisel Iglesias on the bump, who coming into the game, had not given up an earned run since June 18th.
The Dodgers would rack up five against him, exploding for seven runs and the win. It feels like a missed opportunity on Monday morning, but anytime you can take two out of three from the Dodgers with a chance to make it three out of four today, you should feel pretty good.
Thankfully, the Mets would also lose in the afternoon, keeping the Braves in a tie for the final Wild Card spot in the National League standings, as it continues to look like that second-to-last series of the season will determine which NL East team goes to the postseason.
NL Wild Card Standings
- San Diego Padres (85-65)
- Arizona Diamondbacks (83-66)
- Atlanta Braves (81-68)
- New York Mets (81-68)
- Chicago Cubs (76-73) — 5.0 GB
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It’s officially become a four-team race in the National League for three spots. The Padres sit comfortably 3.5 games ahead of the Braves and Mets, but the Diamondbacks are only 2.0 games up and could potentially fall out of contention with a rough end to the month.
On September 24th, the Mets arrive in Atlanta for a three-game set at Truist Park. Unless something drastic happens over the next week, it feels almost inevitable that the winner of that series will be headed to the playoffs, while the loser will have no choice but to start thinking about 2025.
The Braves wrap up their series with the Dodgers today before playing the Reds and Marlins. It’s a pretty favorable schedule, but the Braves have really struggled against bad teams this season. Meanwhile, the Mets have two divisional matchups before heading to Atlanta against the Nationals and Phillies.
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Photo: David J. Griffin/Icon Sportswire
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