Do the math. Or just trust us.

At the All-Star break, division-leading Philadelphia is on pace to win 88 games this season. And the Mets, winners of their past nine, are looking at least temporarily functional. For the fourth-place Braves to finish with 89 W's, they would be required to play .657 ball (44-23) from here to the tape.

Jason Getz/jgetz@ajc.com (ENLARGE)

Mark Teixeira's Braves have only three streaks of two wins or more.

Jason Getz/jgetz@ajc.com (ENLARGE)

Will Chipper lead the Braves back into contention or will their bubble burst?

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What's needed here is some kind of instant horsepower boost. Pass the nitrous oxide.

For those who hold out hope, who prefer to believe the glass is 47 percent full rather than

53 percent empty, here are five steps necessary to rejoin the race:

1. Holy men left on base, get another bat, man

The Braves' offensive whoas — as in dead stopped — are well known. A lot of good men are starving on second base. The pitching has been more than adequate — and when the Braves score four or more runs, their record is 40-12.

So, be a buyer and deal for another bat, preferably right-handed, and clutch.

But what a delicate decision. You start mortgaging the future, you end up like Fannie Mae.

"Yeah I do [think the team could deal for a bat] but not at any cost," Braves broadcaster Joe Simpson said last week. "I'm not saying you write off the second half because anything can happen, but for the sake of the future you can't give up a lot of young pitching for a stopgap measure now when you're this far behind.

"This is a very difficult month for [general manager] Frank Wren and his staff."

2. Play every game like your hair's on fire

It's an attitude thing, from the manager on down. It's only July, but the Braves have exhausted all margin for error. They haven't won a one-run game on the road since the Harding administration. Time to cowboy up, if there's a trace of John Wayne in them.

That means grinding out every inning, every at-bat as if this were September.

Or, "We need to start playing like it's October," catcher Brian McCann said. "We need to start being on every pitch, that's the way you play the game."

"We going to have to get on a real roll, whether it's winning nine out of 10 or 12 out of 14," Wren said. "We're going to have to do some of that to get to where we want to get."

The Braves' longest winning streak of the season thus far is six games, back in early May. They've won more than two in a row only three times. They have to stop treating consistency with the kind of disdain usually reserved for non-alcoholic beer.

3. Keep Chipper Jones (above) in bubble wrap until game time

Because there is absolutely no hope without him, every time Jones does more than walk to the bat rack, a season teeters in the balance. Fear the quadriceps.

Overall, the Braves have, at various times, lost the front end of a rotation and an outfield to injury. They're one more pulled hamstring away from bringing in Benny Hinn as a bullpen coach. If there is a balance in the universe, aren't the Braves due at least two months of relative good health?

"Well, I can't imagine having 10 or 12 guys on the DL all year," Wren said.

4. Take care of the fundamentals

Play baseball the beautiful way rather than waiting around to shanghai games with the late-inning home run.

Get a bunt down once in a while. "That should be a layup," said Jones, who admittedly never is asked to bunt.

"Our pitching's been good enough, our record should be a lot better than it is," Simpson said. "We're getting guys on, we're just not getting them in. High on-base percentage is not translating into high number of runs scored.

"How you rectify it is do the little things better: Moving runners over, getting them in from third with less than two out, getting bunts down when Bobby asks them to bunt.Maybe running a little more in spots."

5. Hold your breath that the Phillies or Mets don't run away with it

Face it, some things are just out of your control. The Braves are going to need plenty of help.

The front-runners have to do a little loitering while the Braves just try to get their heads above .500.

But some things the Braves have to control themselves. Such as their almost pathological need to please Philadelphia, an ungrateful town. The Braves have been more than charitable — 1-8 vs. the Phils in the first half. They have nine more meetings with Philadelphia this season, six in September.