Braves News: Braves clinch first-round Bye in Loss, Ronald Acuna Jr. back in lineup, more

Post-division clinching hangovers do occur multiple times every year.

However, the Braves will be the first to tell you that losing the next four games after the fact was not the plan, including another lackluster performance on Monday night in a 7-1 loss to the Phillies. Though Ronald Acuna Jr. returned to the lineup, Zach Wheeler kept the Braves silent after a first inning home run by Ozzie Albies. Meanwhile, Kyle Wright experienced plenty of struggles in his second straight start.

The end result is the Braves now 3 ¹⁄₂ games up on the Dodgers for the best record in the NL and only 2 games up on the Orioles for best record in baseball. Though the Braves did clinch a first-round bye on Monday, their lead for the best record in baseball is important because the Braves certainly want to have home field advantage throughout the playoffs. To do that, they must get back in the win column.

Braves News

• A breakdown of the how the playoff picture continued to evolve over the weekend.
• Lucas Luetge returned to the Braves on Monday and threw two shutout innings in the game. Dereck Rodriguez was DFA’d as a result.
• Vaughn Grissom was named the Battery Power Minor League Player of the Year.
• On Sunday, the Braves announced Nick Anderson would begin a rebar assignment this week.

MLB News

• The Orioles were able to continue their winning ways due to some clutching hitting from Cedric Mullins.
• As his final season is winding down, Adam Wainwright has been searching for career win number 200 for quite a while. He finally earned it on Monday.
• The Rays will be announcing the plans for a new stadium to be built in the Tampa area later today.
• Manny Machado will likely have surgery in the near future due to experiencing “tennis elbow.”
• Rookie Tanner Bibee of the Guardians is done for the year due to a hip injury.