Atlanta Braves: The things to know before today’s game vs. the Phillies

The Atlanta Braves are so close to clinching the NL East for the first time since 2013 and will be popping bottles today if they get the win against the Phillies.

Are you getting a little jittery and excited? Well you should. The Atlanta Braves have cut their magic number to 2 after winning the first two games of the series against the Philadelphia Phillies.

Both were exciting late-inning comeback games which saw Braves win with final scores of 8-3 and 6-5. Now they come down to what could be the final decision of the NL East:  if the Braves win, they clinch the division.

The win last night also officially knocked the Washington Nationals out of the NL East race.  The Mets beat them 4-2.

The last time the Braves clinched the NL East, they went 96-66 with a 10 game lead over the Nationals and had the #2 seed. In case you weren’t following along, they would go on to lose 3-1 to #3 seed, the Los Angeles Dodgers.

The Braves Can LITERALLY Celebrate Earlier

Now, it will become more of a spectacle as the game will be center-stage (along with the Giants and Cardinals game), being broadcast on Fox, the payoff for a well-predicted decision by the network. Many thought the division will come down to these final two matchups with Philadelphia.

However, with the game getting picked up for national broadcast, it will start earlier as well, becoming an afternoon game. It will begin at 1:05 PM instead of the usual Saturday starting time of 7:05 PM.

It’s actually the second week in a row, that the Braves game was picked up for FOX broadcast.  And more than just the Braves are getting excited:

Home Field Advantage

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Some may be getting deja-vu feelings now that it’s pretty much certain the Braves will be taking on the Dodgers in the NLDS.

With the Dodgers losing last night, if the season were to end, the Braves would slide into the #2 seed and thus would get home field advantage.

Though with how the Braves are performing this season, it might be better to give the advantage to LA.  As we’ve discussed – and likely will continue to do so – the Braves have a better record on the road than at home. At home, the club has a 41-38 W-L record but has a 45-30 record on the road.

However, the season isn’t ending today and there is still a week of games left, which means the Braves can still fall back to #3.

Schedule- wise, after this series, the Braves will hit the road to take on the New York Mets and then see the Phillies again to end the season.

For more on whether or not home field advantage will help the Braves, check out Kyle Walter’s article below.

Atlanta Braves: Does home field advantage really matter?

The Braves are likely headed to their first playoff berth since 2013. Will a disappointing home record sink their chances of a deep run?

Folty Over Nuke

Manager Brian Snitker announced yesterday that for today’s game, he will go with Mike Foltynewicz in place of Sean Newcomb for the start. He gave his reasoning that he wants to “go with the guy that have the hotter hand.”

That basically meant he wants to try to clinch today with the better pitcher and then have Newcomb be an option out of the bullpen for the rest of the homestand.

Another factor that’s probably in the thinking is that this move could be part of the process to set up the rotation for the playoffs.

Newcomb will likely make a start next week and David O’Brien mentioned that Snitker indicated that Touki Toussaint might get another start also.

Foltynewicz (11-10) currently has 2.90 ERA and almost unanimously the best pitcher in the rotation. He got a lost in his last start, going only 4.2 innings (gave up 6 runs) but did pitch a complete game win in the start before.

Newcomb (12-9) will sit with a 4.04 ERA having gone only 3 innings (5 earned runs) with the loss in his last start, but getting the win in the start before.

So whether it’s really a huge difference or not between who has the “hotter hand,” Snitker is going with Foltynewicz in hopes of officially becoming the NL East champions.

So go find a screen, if possible, and get ready as the Braves take on the Phillies at 1:05 PM on FOX!