Our beloved Atlanta Braves have waited until the dying days of a lost season to suddenly go on their hottest run of the season. While they may not be the hottest team in baseball at the moment (that goes to the Guardians, who are really, really grateful for what the Braves did for them over this past weekend in Detroit), they’re on the longest winning streak in baseball right now and are looking to really end their season on a high note.
The cost of these good times is that for the first time in a while,
Atlanta’s lottery odds are starting to take a dip. Let’s take a look of how deep of a dip this is going to be for the Braves.
Pirates 11, Athletics 0
Box Score | Savant | Condensed Game
I’m going to be honest: With the way the Pirates have been depressingly bad so far this season, I didn’t think they had this type of game (or a series win) in them. Instead, Pittsburgh came out on top in convincing fashion and maybe this is another reminder that while the Athletics have a lot of fun and exciting parts, they are still who and what their record says they are. Jared Triolo and Joey Bart both had four hits and three RBIs — Triolo had a two-run shot in the second inning that gave the Buccos some breathing room and then Joey Bart delivered the coup de grace with a three-run dinger that blew it open at 10-0 in the fifth.
Twins 6, Guardians 2
Box Score | Savant | Condensed Game
While the Tigers are busy spiraling, the only saving grace that they have at the moment is that the Twins did them a tiny favor by avoiding a sweep at the hands of the Guardians this evening. Cleveland has gotten on fire at precisely the same time the Tigers have gone ice cold but at least for one day, the tables were turned. Although it would be easy to say that Cleveland’s bullpen was the main culprit for dropping this one (Cleveland used five relievers once they dipped into their ‘pen in the fifth inning and all but one of them gave up at least one run), Minnesota’s pitching has usually been diabolical since the Trade Deadline, so this was a bit of an oasis for the Twins in that this was not only a win but a win where Simeon Woods Richardson and the rest of that pitching staff didn’t have to struggle.
Marlins 4, Rangers 2
Box Score | Savant | Condensed Game
Say hello to one of the main reasons why the Braves haven’t slid as far in the Lottery Odds as they could have. The Marlins have now won nine of their last 10 and essentially ended Texas’ season with this sweep in Arlington. The Rangers did try their best to avoid extending their extremely ill-timed losing streak as the Marlins held on to a slim one-run lead heading into the final third of the contest. Miami was able to get a sacrifice fly from Brian Navarreto to get some breathing room and then they got scoreless innings from Ronny Henriquez, Michael Petersen and George Soriano to close this one out and also potentially close the curtains on the season for the Rangers.
Yankees 7, Orioles 1
Box Score | Savant | Condensed Game
At first glance, this seems like another dominant performance for the Yankees over a Baltimore club that is just trying to get to the offseason at this point. Instead, this is the score they got to after ten innings. Samuel Basallo scored what ended up being Baltimore’s only run of the game with a go-ahead solo shot in the fifth but Ben Rice responded with an RBI single in the sixth to tie it at one, which is how it would stay until extras.
The Yankees got the first crack at it thanks to being the home team and then they proceeded to load up the bases with Ben Rice back at the plate. Keegan Akin left one in the no-no zone for pitchers and the nitro zone for hitters and once the smoke was cleared, Rice and the Yankees were left celebrating an extra-innings grand slam. Adding insult to injury, Jazz Chisholm Jr. homered with two outs and then New York welcomed Yaramil Hiraldo to the game with a double, a walk and an RBI single from Anthony Volpe to make it a six-run tenth. Obviously, there was no coming back from a sudden shock to the system like that one for Baltimore.
The Braves are the only team involved in this race that’ll be in action later on today, as everybody else will be taking their final off day of the season here on Monday. The A’s will have to deal with the Astros to start off this week, with the Twins taking on the Rangers, the Pirates getting the Reds and the Marlins getting the Phillies before the weekend rolls around. Baltimore’s series is fascinating because they’ll be playing the Rays, who have suddenly played themselves into this race with a 3-7 run bringing them to 75-80 on the season.
Again, Atlanta’s hot and just got done sweeping this same Nationals team over four games and in D.C., no less. I wouldn’t be too surprised if the Braves kept this going and then suddenly everybody will be rooting intensely for everybody else in this race to start winning some more ballgames.
For a more detailed look at the standings, check out Tankathon.
