Wednesday, September 15, 2010

Some Bad Signs in the A-T-L

The Atlanta Braves lost again this afternoon to the Washington Nationals 4-2 in Atlanta, undone by a grand slam home run in the second inning. The starting pitching, which had been our strength throughout the season, has now forsaken the Braves. Atlanta's modus operandi is now to fall behind early, miss scoring opportunities all through the middle innings, then try to have a big eighth and/or ninth inning. That is not a very good scenario for a playoff contending team. After tonight's action, Atlanta could find itself three games behind Philadelphia with 15 games remaining. Granted, the Braves do have six games left against the Phillies, but they don't want to play those games too far behind in the loss column. At this point the Wild Card looks awfully good, but it could be fading as well if losses continue to pile up. That lead could shrink to a mere 1/2 game today or tomorrow. All is not lost at this point for Atlanta, but they have to turn this downward spiral around. And fast. The pressure is mounting.

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