Braves Sit Game Behind Final NL Playoff Team Despite Starter Streak

The Atlanta Braves offense hasn't support the team's starting pitching enough over the past month.

Atlanta Braves pitcher Max Fried / Geoff Burke-Imagn Images

It's incredible the Atlanta Braves have been able to patch together enough offense to stay alive in the National League wild card race. After all, the team is missing its top three hitters from the opening day lineup, and MVP candidate Matt Olson is having a disappointing season.

Just two nights ago, that Braves offense, even with all its missing stars, scored 12 runs against the Washington Nationals.

But that lineup offered little for an encore, scoring only 1 run in Wednesday's loss. As a result, the Braves have now fallen back to one game behind the New York Mets for the final wild card spot.

Left-hander Max Fried gave up 4 earned runs on 11 hits in the 5-1 defeat Wednesday night. It was the first time since Aug. 10 that a Braves starting pitcher allowed more than 3 earned runs in a start.

That's an incredible run for the Braves starting pitchers. They are the reason the Braves are still involved in the playoff race. They are also the reason the team could make a deep playoff run if it makes the postseason.

But it's still unfortunate that the Braves managed to post only an 18-11 record during the rotation's amazing streak. While that's a very good record, it could have been better.

In the last 29 games, Atlanta lost six games when they scored zero or 1 run. The Braves also lost three contests, 3-2.

There was also the infamous 9-8 loss to the Colorado Rockies, where the offense had one of their better performances of the second half. But the Braves bullpen allowed 7 runs in the eighth inning.

As it currently stands, turning just one of those losses into another win gets the Braves into the playoffs.

If the team's starting rotation can start a new streak Friday night against the Los Angeles Dodgers, the playoff race is hardly finished. In addition to being only a game behind the Mets, the Braves are just 1.5 contests behind the San Diego Padres and 2 games back of the Arizona Diamondbacks.

It's a four-team race for three wild card spots. It's just a shame that the Braves aren't a little better positioned in the race with only 16 games remaining.