The Braves bats found some life in Colorado, but Sunday provided another tough pill to swallow for the entire organization. Carrying an 8-2 lead in the 8th inning, the Rockies exploded for seven runs to stun Atlanta in the rubber match of the series. It was one of those losses that occurs once every 20 years. In fact, it was just the second time in Rockies franchise history that they won a game in which they were trailing by 6+ runs entering the 8th inning or later. Colorado is now 2-725 in such contests.
The Colorado Rockies are now 2-725 when trailing by 6+ runs entering the 8th inning or later pic.twitter.com/7XR9BlykWV
— Barstool Baseball (@StoolBaseball) August 11, 2024
As a Braves fan, I found myself chuckling out of sheer pain. It’s been gut-punch after gut-punch this season, from injuries to underperformances, and now this. It’s hard to even explain. To say this doesn’t feel like the Braves season would be an understatement. This is a team that hasn’t played like they belong in the playoffs for going on four months.
But what makes it even more frustrating is the door has been left wide open for the Braves to take advantage. The Phillies have played absolutely miserable baseball since the All-Star break. Most recently, they were swept by the Diamondbacks this weekend, so the Braves actually made up some ground in the division, despite losing two out of three to the lowly Rockies. Atlanta now trails Philadelphia in the NL East by 7.5 games with fewer than 50 games remaining.
More surprisingly, the Braves also made up some ground in the Wild Card race over the weekend. Atlanta started Friday out of postseason position, trailing the Mets by 0.5 games. With New York also being swept in Seattle, the Braves now own the third and final Wild Card spot by a half-game.
However, the margin for error has closed considerably. The Braves trail the Padres and Diamondbacks by four games. With the way those two teams are playing right now, it’s difficult to imagine Atlanta catching up. But more notably, the teams behind the Mets in the standings are also right in the Braves rearview mirror.
NL Wild Card Standings
- Padres (66-53)
- Diamondbacks (66-53)
- Braves (61-56)
- Mets (61-57) — 0.5 GB
- Cardinals (60-58) — 1.5 GB
- Giants (61-59) — 1.5 GB
- Cubs (59-60) — 3 GB
- Reds (57-61) — 4.5 GB
- Pirates (56-61) — 5 GB
—
The Braves were handed a gift by the Mets this weekend, but the overall outlook still looks much bleaker in terms of making the postseason. With so many teams bunched up right behind them, .500 baseball isn’t going to be enough to get this club to October, and the Braves have been a below .500 team since the end of April.
It’s not the position anybody expected the Braves to be in at the beginning of the season, but they do have a great opportunity to distance themselves a bit from the pack this week with a four-game In San Francisco starting today.
—
Photo: Andy Lewis/Icon Sportswire
You must log in to post a comment.