On the day the Braves closed the books on Cole Hamels — $2.002 million spent per inning pitched and $128,205 per pitch thrown — they moved significantly closer to winning the National League East championship.
The Braves' 5-4 win over the Miami Marlins in the opener of a four-game series at Truist Park on Monday night, coupled with the Philadelphia Phillies' 5-1 loss to the Washington Nationals, put the Braves in position to clinch a third consecutive division title as soon as Tuesday night.
Here’s where things stand:
The standings: With six games to play in the regular season, the first-place Braves (32-22) have a four-game lead over the second-place Marlins (28-26) and a five-game lead over the third-place Phillies (27-27).
Magic number: Monday’s results shaved two off the Braves' magic number against both the Marlins and the Phillies. Technically, the Braves' magic number to win the division outright dropped from five to three against the Marlins and from four to two against the Phillies. But the Braves are potentially even closer than that suggests to wrapping up the division title because of MLB’s tiebreaker rules for this season. Here’s how quickly it could play out if all goes in the Braves' favor:
If the Braves win again Tuesday night, they would be five games ahead of Miami with five to play, clinching at least a tie with the Marlins. But the Braves also would clinch the two-way tiebreaker against the Marlins on the basis of overall intra-division record. (MLB will have no tiebreaker games this year.)
If the Braves win Tuesday AND the Phillies lose either game of a Tuesday doubleheader at Washington, that would eliminate the Phillies and Marlins from the division race and clinch the NL East championship for the Braves.
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Bottom line: Whether the division title race ends Tuesday or not, Monday’s win put the Braves in a great position. Because of the tiebreakers, they need just one more win in the final three games of the series and one Phillies loss to clinch the division.
The second-place team in each division also is assured a spot in the expanded playoffs. So even when/if the Braves wrap up the East, the Marlins and Phillies will continue to battle for second place and a postseason berth. Even the third-place finisher in the East might make the playoffs as a wild-card team.
Check back each morning this week for the latest update on the Braves Playoff Watch.
