These are the most important four days of the Braves’ season.
The Braves play a five-game series against the Mets in Queens, beginning with Monday’s doubleheader. It’s a series with major implications. How the Braves fare will influence their trade-deadline strategy. It will obviously weigh heavily in the National League East standings. The Braves enter Monday trailing the first-place Mets by five games.
Even a 3-2 result wouldn’t change much. The Braves would only gain one game in the East, which would still leave them four games back. It’s not often there’s urgency in a mid-summer series, but this qualifies.
“It’s either going to help (general manager) Alex (Anthopoulos) go get us some help or not,” first baseman Freddie Freeman said Saturday. “When you play nine games in eight days against guys that are in first or second (referencing the Phillies, whom the Braves just split a four-game series against), it’s big, especially right before the trade deadline.”
Manager Brian Snitker stressed the series’ importance after the Braves’ 2-1 loss to the Phillies on Sunday.
“These guys are grinding through a rough stretch,” he said. “We had four days off (at the All-Star break) and we came out of the gate and played a three-and-a-half, four-hour game that wore them right back to where they were before they went on vacation. That’s something we’ll have to fight our way through. We have to win these games. This is a big series. It’s five games against the team we’re chasing. We can rest in the winter. We have to get after it right now.”
Braves Lineup: The AJC presents a daily look at one thing to know about the Atlanta Braves today.
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