ATLANTA — A thriller, a laugher and a bit of a snoozer. That’s how the Braves’ three-game series against the Phillies went this weekend at Truist Park.
All told, the Braves (88-62) handled their business in a series that could have turned the tides for a Phillies club (83-67), now five games back in its bid for a third straight National League East title.
“Tough finish, but our guys took care of business winning that series,” manager Walt Weiss said.
Despite the loss in which Atlanta’s bullpen gave up seven eighth-inning runs, the Braves are still in prime position to earn their first NL East title since 2023.
Atlanta also secured a 9-4 edge in the season series to put Philadelphia in the rearview mirror, for the time being. Now, it is important to look ahead to the Braves’ final 12 games of the regular season.
A crucial six-game road trip starts on Monday with three games against the Cubs at Wrigley Field. Atlanta will then travel to Houston for a three-game weekend set starting on Friday, before returning home for three against the Reds (Sept. 22-24) and three in Miami (Sept. 25-27) to wrap up the regular season.
Two of the four teams remaining on the Braves’ schedule (Cubs and Astros) are playoff contenders. The Cubs are battling the Phillies for the NL’s top Wild Card spot, while the Astros are staving off the Rangers for the top spot in the American League West.
Needless to say, Weiss and the Braves aren’t taking any games for granted.
“We have to have tunnel vision and just keep our heads down, and keep going and stack up wins; take care of our own business,” Weiss said. “We’ve done a nice job in the division. We’ve done a nice job against Philly [and] against playoff teams. We’ve played really well. We have a couple of tiebreakers in our favor. Overall, it was a good weekend.”
On Monday in Chicago, Reynaldo López (4-4, 4.13 ERA) will make his 13th start of the season. On Tuesday, Martín Pérez will get the nod for Atlanta. The Braves have not announced Wednesday’s starter, but Weiss said it will depend on what happens in the first two games of the series.
“We’ve had stretches of that this year where our rotation is a little in flux,” Weiss said. “We’re making some decisions on the fly. That would be the case here.”
By this time last season, Atlanta’s playoff hopes were squandered. The club missed the postseason for the first time since 2017 and finished with a 76-86 record.
“You can’t let your guard down,” Weiss said. “Even if you end up clinching something, you can’t let your guard down. This game is too hard, the league is too difficult to just flip that switch again.”
First baseman Matt Olson hit two home runs over the weekend as he looks to emerge from a slump in which he went 14 games without a homer (.332 OPS in that time) leading into the series.
“It’s not gonna be perfect all the time,” Olson said. “You have to continue to have good at-bats. Sometimes, you don’t find holes, sometimes, you’re not swinging it the way you want to. But you just keep working and trying to get back on track.”
Braves left-handed reliever Dylan Lee has been struggling recently. After giving up 13 earned runs over his first 58 innings (60 games) this season, Lee has allowed nine earned runs over his last eight appearances. He gave up a season-high four earned runs on Sunday.
Lee, who still has a 3.09 ERA and 0.95 WHIP, hasn’t lost his manager’s confidence.
“Dylan Lee is very capable of taking down that inning,” Weiss said. “We want to see him against those big left-handed hitters at the top of their lineup. Virtually every time out he puts that inning down. He’s left some sliders up lately but we’re gonna need Dylan and he’ll be there for us.”
Though the bullpen struggled on Sunday, Atlanta could have some reinforcements ahead of the postseason.
Braves right-handed reliever Robert Suarez, who’s working his way back from right elbow inflammation, faced hitters and threw around 15 pitches during a live batting practice session prior to Sunday’s series finale.
Suarez would be a big boost to Atlanta’s relief corps before the end of the regular season as he would be grouped with Raisel Iglesias, Lee and Didier Fuentes.