Braves, Marlins Join Race for NL Wild Card, May Make Senior Circuit Compelling
This has been an uneventful stretch run in baseball, and especially so in the National League. While the Tigers and Twins are contesting the only division race worth paying attention to in the AL Central, the possible Giants-Rockies duel for the NL Wild Card vanished as the Giants went 3-7 over their last ten games and the Rockies stabilized after a four-game losing streak.↵↵So when the Braves and Marlins winning on Saturday while the Cardinals clinched the NL Central with victory over the Rockies, the NL Wild Card may have been joined in progress by a little intrigue. ↵
↵↵Now, the Braves are just two and a half games back of the Rockies, and the Marlins four games removed.↵
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↵Of the two NL East teams, the Braves are hotter: They currently ride a five-game winning streak, can extend a nine-game road winning streak to ten with a win over the Nationals today, and have lost just twice since September 10th. They have the easier slate to finish, too, with seven games at home against the Marlins and Nats to finish up; the Marlins are home to the Mets today, but have road series with the Braves and Phillies to close, and have played just .500 ball against those teams to date.↵
↵↵For either team, sneaking in will require near-perfection, but the Rockies may keep the window open. Though the Rockies have been up and down since mid-September, and get a three-game homestand against a Brewers team they swept in June early this week, they’ve gone 3-12 against the Dodgers this year, and must travel to Chavez Ravine for their closing series. And even though St. Louis clinched their division last night, the Cardinals are still mathematically in the race for home-field advantage in the NL, and will have something to play for today.↵
↵↵Of course, the Braves and Marlins could stub their toes today while the Rockies chase the Cards’ Kyle Lohse, the margin would swell to three and a half games with six remaining, and all these hypotheticals would disappear. Sometimes drama just doesn’t materialize.↵
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This post originally appeared on the Sporting Blog. For more, see The Sporting Blog Archives.
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