Braves Face August Must-Win After Missed Opportunity

The Atlanta Braves need to beat the Philadelphia Phillies on Thursday to secure a series victory.

Atlanta Braves second baseman Whit Merrifield / Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports

The phrase, "must win" is thrown around a lot in sports. It's not actually true until facing an absolute elimination game.

But Thursday, the Atlanta Braves have as big of a must-win as possible for the month of August.

Brian Snitker's club could have been in position to sweep the Philadelphia Phillies on Thursday and really put some pressure on their NL East rival. Instead, the Braves need a victory to win the series after they blew a 2-0 lead Wednesday.

Starter Max Fried allowed the Phillies to manufacture 2 runs in the sixth inning. The Phillies tallied runs on a ground out and sacrifice fly to tie the game. Reliever Joe Jiminez then yielded another run on a sacrifice fly in the eighth, as the Braves lost 3-2.

The Braves offense did the pitching staff no favors. Orlando's Arcia's 2-run homer was the team's only offense in the loss. The Braves went 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position.

A victory Thursday, though, will get the bad taste from Wednesday out of Atlanta's mouth. It will also return the Braves to 6 games back in the division race.

A sweep would have moved the Braves to 4 games, so the missed opportunity Wednesday could still be costly. But with four more contests with Philadelphia next week, the Braves can still go 5-2 in their last seven games against the Phillies. That's what I estimated they needed to do in order to have a realistic chance at the NL East in September.

Going 5-2 is a lot more possible if the Braves begin those seven games by winning two of three.

The Braves will turn to right-hander Spencer Schwellenbach for the August must-win contest Thursday. He is 4-6 with a 4.04 ERA, but the rookie hasn't allowed more than 3 runs in any of his last four starts.

The team will likely need that kind of performance again. The first two games against the Phillies have been low scoring affairs. There could be more runs Thursday based on the pitching matchup, but each team's offense has been quiet.

Left-hander Cristopher Sanchez will be on the mound for the Phillies. He is 9-8 with a 3.46 ERA.

The NL East race won't be finished if the Braves lose Thursday. But the climb back to first place will be a lot harder.