Braves again miss out on chance to cut into Mets’ division lead

The Atlanta Braves lost ground in the division race in the NL East Thursday night while things in the Wild Card tightened. With just 12 games remaining in the regular season for Atlanta, here is how things stand heading into Friday.

The Division Race

The New York Mets’ magic number to clinch the NL East division is down to 12 after the Braves suffered a 1-0 loss in Philadelphia Thursday night. Atlanta was 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position and left nine me on base spoiling a good pitching performance. Their series with the Phillies will continue Friday with Jake Odorizzi matching up against Aaron Nola.

The Mets were idle Thursday and will begin a three-game series in Oakland Friday night. Former A’s starter Chris Bassett will get the start for New York while Oakland will go with lefty Cole Irvin.

The Dodgers have clinched the NL West and are on their way to locking up the top seed in the National League. The Cardinals have a 7.5 game lead in the NL Central over the Brewers and their magic number to clinch is down to five.

The Wild Card

The Braves still hold a healthy 10.5 game advantage over the Padres for the first Wild Card spot. Things are getting a bit more interesting behind them. The Padres saw their five-game winning streak end Thursday with a 5-4 loss to the Cardinals. San Diego will begin a three-game series in Colorado Friday with Sean Manama matching up against Ryan Feltner.

Philadelphia’s win over Atlanta moved them to just a half game behind the San Diego for the second wild card. The Brewers defeated the Reds 5-1 Thursday night and remain 2.5 games back of the final Wild Card spot.

Playoff Picture

The overall playoff picture stays the same in the National League. The Mets widened their gap by a half game over the Braves while the Phillies closed to within a half game of the Padres.

If the playoffs began today, the Braves would host a best-of-three series against the Padres at Truist Park starting on Friday, October 7. The winner would then head to Los Angeles on October 11 to begin a best-of-five Division Series against the Dodgers.