PITTSBURGH — On the night of Aug. 7, the Braves’ clubhouse, which is loud and lively after wins, was silent. Players simply dressed, grabbed their belongings and walked out of the visitors’ clubhouse for the trip out of New York. It had been a nightmare weekend.
The Braves had just lost four of five games to the Mets, which dropped the Braves to 6-1/2 games behind their National League East rivals. This was the kind of series that can end a team’s chance of winning its division. But there still were almost two months to play, and the Braves still believed they were as good as any club in baseball.
Two and a half weeks after that disappointing series and the somber scene that followed, the Braves are back – again.
With Wednesday’s 14-2 thrashing of the Pirates, which concluded a three-game sweep at PNC Park, the Braves pulled within 1-1/2 games of the first-place Mets. The Braves (78-48) have 36 games remaining, including three at home versus the Mets. They are alive and well as they try to win a fifth consecutive division title under president of baseball operations Alex Anthopoulos.
Those in Queens must be upset. The Mets, who lost two games to the Yankees before their off-day Wednesday, have not necessarily played poorly – the Braves simply are not losing often. The Mets cannot rid themselves of the Braves, who continue climbing up the standings and hanging around, threatening to take first place.
Since that series in New York, which contained the Braves’ first three-game losing streak of the season, the Braves are 14-2 in their past 16 games. Three of those wins came against the Mets at Truist Park, a series victory that helped the Braves begin to grab momentum in the division. Since the beginning of June, the Braves are 55-21. They have won five consecutive series.
The Braves’ 12-run win is tied for their most lopsided victory of the season. They fell two runs shy of tying their season-high scoring total for a contest. Eight Braves collected a hit and six drove in at least one run. The team tallied 14 hits.
The Braves used a five-run fourth inning – their second five-run frame in as many days – to turn the game into a blowout. They continued the rout with a seven-run eighth-inning, highlighted by Matt Olson’s mammoth grand slam that sailed over the deck in right field and into the Allegheny River. The Braves batted around in both innings.
