The Braves begin the 2nd half of their road trip tonight in Miami, a place they have fared well over the past couple years, including a sweep of the Marlins earlier this season. Having lost two of three to the Phillies the Braves not only squandered an opportunity to deliver a knockout blow to the Fighting Cholly Manuel's, but now also find themselves only four games ahead of Washington who swept the flailing Padres with relative ease over the weekend.
Both Atlanta and Washington have seven games left before the All-Star break. Atlanta has three in Miami before coming home for four against a tough Cincinnati team. Washington has four in Philadelphia before finishing with three in Miami. Theoretically, Washington should win both series, as they are the more talented club and have been playing better ball recently. For Atlanta, sweeping this series against the Marlins before coming back home to face a Cincinnati team that is probably equal to them in terms of overall talent is absolutely essential. There's a mental edge that comes with taking a four or five-game lead into the All-Star break, but that edge is diminished if the lead is one or two-games, especially if most of that deficit was made up in the final week of the first half.
As previously stated, this series is a must-win for the Braves. There's really no reason to ever lose to the Marlins, especially now that Ricky Nolasco plays for the Dodgers. The Braves do catch the Marlins at the bottom of their rotation, missing Jose Fernandez again as well as the unheralded Nate Eovaldi. Anything short of a sweep here puts the Braves in a bad position going into the first half's final series.
Series matchups:
Tonight, 7:10 (local broadcast)
Mike Minor v. Kevin Slowey
Tuesday, 7:10 (local broadcast)
Julio Teheran v. Henderson Alvarez
Wednesday, 12:40 (local broadcast/MLB network)
Paul Maholm v. Jacob Turner
Tonight's lineup:
Simmons (sigh)
Heyward
J Upton
Freeman
McCann
Uggla
BJ
Johnson
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