Braves take on Nationals with a chance to clinch Postseason spot

The Braves will be playing tonight with a chance at clinching their fifth-consecutive trip to the Postseason as they host the Nationals in the middle game of this particular series.

The playoff scenario is pretty simple: If the Braves win tonight and the Brewers lose, they will clinch a wild card spot at the very least. Now granted, we don’t particularly want the Brewers to lose tonight when you consider who they’re playing so it would probably just be great if the Braves just went ahead and took care of business in their home stadium tonight and let the cards fall where they may.

Speaking of which, the Braves could hit ten-straight wins at home if they’re victorious tonight. They may like their chances tonight since the lineup will be tasked with taking on Patrick Corbin this evening. To be quite blunt, Corbin has had an absolute nightmare against the Braves this season. Back in early April, Corbin didn’t make it out of the third inning before giving up six runs to Atlanta. He came back to face the Braves in July and went six innings while giving up four runs before seeing them again in Washington for his following start and giving up six runs (five earned) in five innings. Simply put, Patrick Corbin has not been fooling Atlanta’s hitters at all this season.

If we’re being completely honest, Patrick Corbin hasn’t been fooling many hitters this season as his 6.87 ERA and 4.87 FIP would seem to insinuate. With that being said, Corbin hasn’t been terrible lately as he’s picked up a 2.90 ERA and 4.46 FIP over his past five starts. This includes a start against the Mets where he held New York to one run over seven innings. While Corbin has been having a rough year, he can still get the job done on his day so if the Braves are going to keep on hitting him hard, it won’t exactly be a “gimme” for the Braves tonight.

The Braves are also going to need Charlie Morton to return to form tonight. While he hasn’t had much of a problem getting through five innings recently, he has given up four runs in three of his last four starts. The good news is that Morton has had some success against Washington earlier this season — he went seven innings while only giving up two runs with seven strikeouts. Two of those runs came from the bat of Juan Soto, who hit a dinger and is now currently playing in San Diego. I’m not saying that we should expect a repeat performance from Morton tonight, but it sure would be nice to see it.

Tonight could end up being a pretty cool night for the Braves. While the goal for this team is no longer simply to make the Postseason, it’s still a great achievement to clinch a spot — especially with the topsy-turvy type of season that the Braves have had here in 2022. Hopefully Atlanta will pick up the win tonight so the accomplishment can be celebrated in style. There’s still bigger goals on the horizon, but the Braves have a shot to knock down one of those dominoes if they can pick up the win tonight against the Nationals.

Game Info

Game Date/Time: Tuesday, September 20, 7:20 p.m. ET

Location: Truist Park, Atlanta, Georgia

TV: Bally Sports South

Streaming: MLB.tv

Radio: 680 AM / 93.7 FM The Fan