(Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)
After a successful finish to a series that began with a disastrous start the Atlanta Braves once again find themselves with a golden opportunity.
The Braves sit just four games back in the Wild Card. They are tied with Florida for fourth, two games back of second place San Francisco, and four back of the hot Rockies.
This weekend, the Braves host Florida for three games and the Giants play at Colorado for four. Talk about controlling your own destiny.
The Braves are fortunate in that they miss the Marlins' ace, Josh Johnson, who got touched up by the Astros on Thursday night to allow the Braves to tie them in the standings.
On Friday, the Braves will send their ace Javier Vazquez to the mound to face Anibal Sanchez. Sanchez is 2-3 vs. Atlanta with a 5.18 ERA in 33 innings. Needless to say, Atlanta should take third place on Friday night.
Saturday, future-ace Tommy Hanson will take the mound for Atlanta opposing Chris Volstad, who has a 4.61 ERA to go along with his 9-9 record. He did, however, shut Atlanta down earlier this season with a seven-inning, three hitter. Volstad's ERA this month is 7.07 in 14 innings pitched.
In the finale on Sunday, Derek Lowe will pitch opposite Rick Nolasco, who is 1-4 with 4.79 ERA in 47 innings against Atlanta.
Right now they are knocking the cover off the ball. If that continues, the Braves will be just fine this weekend and probably for the rest of the year.
The Braves scored 21 runs in three games at New York despite Chipper Jones going 0-for-10 in the series.
Adam LaRoche, Matt Diaz, and finally Brian McCann are all hitting great to make Chipper's recent struggles seem not so bad.
Now is the time to make the move. There is a little more than a month remaining in the season and the Braves can really make some noise this weekend. If they win, they will gain on two teams in the Wild Card, the Marlins and Rockies/Giants.
If they lose more than one, we'll probably have to wait 'til next season before we see our beloved Braves back in playoff contention.
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