On Friday night (7:35 P.M. Eastern), the Braves begin their final regular season series under manager Bobby Cox's 20-year reign in Atlanta. A month ago, it looked as though this series could be critical to the Phillies' odds of winning the N.L. East. Since then, the Phillies have won 22 of 28 games to soar past the Braves and clinch the division.
Braves-Phillies, 7:35 P.M.: Braves Begin Final Series In Pursuit Of Wild Card Berth
For the Braves, though, this is still a critical series. With three games left to play in the season, they hold a two-game lead over the Padres in the Wild Card race. As our own Ryan Hudson touched on this morning, the Braves are given a 96.1% chance of reaching the playoffs. A Braves win coupled with a Padres loss tonight would clinch the Wild Card for Atlanta.
For the Braves to lose the Wild Card outright, they would have to be swept at home by a Phillies team with no playoff stakes left to play for, and the Padres would have to sweep the Giants, who are still looking to officially clinch the N.L. West. Two Braves losses and a Padres sweep, or two Padres wins and three Braves losses, would force a one-game playoff.
Tonight, the Braves will trot out 23-year-old rookie Brandon Beachy (9.1 IP, 2.89 ERA). This will only be Beachy's third career start, but he's seen the Phillies before, having given up one earned run in his 4.1-inning major league debut.
The Phillies have elected to start Kyle Kendrick, who has a 4.76 ERA through 175.2 innings in 2010. Kendrick has owned the Braves so far in 2010, having allowed only one earned run over two starts.
Our Braves blog, Talking Chop, is hoping for playoff matters to be decided sooner rather than later in light of Cox’s final games:
Hopefully the Braves can clinch this thing early so that the team and all of the fans can focus on Bobby Cox and his impending retirement. It won’t feel like it’s truly over if the Braves make the playoffs, but as the season comes to a close, it really starts to hit home that Cox’s tenure is actually about to be finished. The Braves and Phillies is a new rivalry for Bobby, and hopefully they can meet each other in the playoffs with the Braves coming out on top. Before they get there, they must take care of some final business in the regular season.
Our Phillies blog, The Good Phight, understandably views this series as an afterthought, but it would be quite unlike the Phillies to lie down for a division rival.
During tonight’s game, we’ll be updating this StoryStream with score updates. You can also follow along with the live game threads at Talking Chop and The Good Phight. Thank goodness for tabbed browsing!
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