The Braves began their weekend series against the Mets with two losses, both of which were demoralizing for completely different reasons.
On Thursday, Chris Sale tossed an absolute gem that Atlanta fumbled away with elementary base running and defensive mistakes. On Friday, New York rocked Charlie Morton, and the Braves didn’t even put up a fight.
Thankfully, the Braves had an ace up their sleeve — Sal Licata. The New York pundit declared the NL Wild Card race over following the Mets 2-0 start to the series, which was followed by the Braves outscoring their rivals 13-2 over the next two games.
The NL Wildcard race is OVER!!! #LGM
— Sal Licata (@sal_licata) July 27, 2024
The Braves now own a 1.5-game lead over the Mets, but the club should look much different over the next 24+ hours with the trade deadline approaching.
Sal Licata famously declared the NL East over two years ago when the Mets held a 10.5-game lead over the Braves. Atlanta owned the best record in baseball from June 1st of that season at 77-33 — which is a 114-win pace over 162 games.
It ended in glorious fashion. At Truist Park against the Mets’ top arms in Jacob deGrom and Max Scherzer, the Braves swept their rivals en route to their fifth-consecutive division title.
This obviously doesn’t mean as much, given it’s just a Wild Card berth, but it’s still fun to beat the Mets and watch their fans eat each other alive. Sal Licata is just playing the fan base, and it’s beautiful to watch them squirm, especially with the Braves doing a lot of flailing recently.
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Photographer: Jeff Robinson/Icon Sportswire
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