Atlanta Braves Take First Place in NL East

The Atlanta Braves take first place with a 4-2 victory over Max Scherzer and the Mets on Saturday Night. Chance to go up two games today.

The Atlanta Braves have officially moved into first place in the NL East, overcoming a 10.5-game deficit. Now, can they hold the Mets off with just four games remaining?

Atlanta Braves Players of the Game

Kyle Wright built on his breakout season with another victory. Wright pitched five strong innings, walking one, allowing seven hits, and just two runs. The lone 20-game winner in all of baseball just added another win to his total. Wright prepares for the postseason with a 21-5 record and a 3.19 ERA.

The Braves Bullpen – The pen showed again why they are potentially the best in the game. The Braves relief core is one of only three to boast a sub-3.00 ERA on the season. Since September 1st, they lead all of baseball with a minuscule 1.63 ERA.

Last night, they kept it rolling. When Wright exited the game in the fifth, Dylan Lee came in to protect a one-run lead. The Mets would not score another run the rest of the night, they were shut down by the Braves relievers. Dylan Lee, Jesse Chaves, Raisel Iglesias, and Kenly Jansen combined for four innings, five strikeouts, no walks, and allowed just one hit.

Kenley Jansen struck out two in a dominant ninth inning to earn his league-leading 39th save.

Ronald Acuna Jr. went 3-4, scoring one run with no strikeouts.

One of the stars of the game on offense was Dansby Swanson. Kyle Wright left the game after the top of the fifth inning with the Braves down 2-1. Dansby came up in the bottom of the fifth and put Wright in a position to earn his 21st win by crushing a go-ahead two-run home run off of Max Scherzer.

Matt Olson came up big the past two nights. Olson drove the Braves’ first run of the game in with an RBI single in the fourth inning. He then added an insurance run in the sixth inning with a no-doubter to right field. That would be the final run scored in the game.

Looking Ahead

The Braves have claimed first place with just four games left. They have a chance to create more separation tonight in the final game of the three-game set. The victory will also give the Braves the edge in the season matchup, meaning the Braves would hold the tie-breaker should they end the season with the same record.

The Mets send Chris Bassit (15-8, 3.27 ERA, 165 K) to the bump to face Charlie Morton (9-6, 4.29, 200 K). This series is the talk of baseball and as such, the game will be on ESPN at 7:00 PM.