What a difference a few innings can make. Late in the Atlanta Braves' series finale against the Philadelphia Phillies on Sunday afternoon, it looked like Walt Weiss' team was set to head home with a second frustrating loss in a row, trailing 4-1 after seven innings in a game that could cut their lead in the NL East down to just three games with plenty of season reamining.
And then Ronald Acuña Jr. happened. One day after he caught the ire of Phillies ace Zack Wheeler for his post-homer antics, the Braves outfielder got the last laugh, launching a game-tying homer to left in the top of the eighth inning. One frame later, Austin Riley drove in the eventual winning run, allowing the Braves to leave town with a huge series victory — and pushing them one big step closer to a division title.
NL East standings after Ronald Acuña Jr. lifts Braves past Phillies
Team | Record | Games back |
|---|---|---|
Atlanta Braves | 85-58 | -- |
Philadelphia Phillies | 80-63 | 5.0 |
Miami Marlins | 71-72 | 14.0 |
Washington Nationals | 67-77 | 18.5 |
New York Mets | 64-78 | 20.5 |
It's hard to overstate just how massive a comeback win it was for the Braves on Sunday. Atlanta now leads Philly by five games in the division rather than three, an all-important difference as the teams get set to square off in another three-game set in Atlanta next weekend. Beyond that, though, it also secured the season series for the Braves, guaranteeing them the head-to-head tiebreaker no matter what happens from here on out.
All of which would seem to put the division ... well, we don't want to say in the bag just yet, because we're superstitious types, but it's not far off. Five games is a ton of ground to make up with fewer than 20 remaining, and now even that won't be enough for the Phillies, as the division will still go to Atlanta if the teams are tied at the end of the regular season. The Braves can taste the champagne already, as their magic number dwindles lower and lower.
Braves magic number: What Atlanta needs to clinch NL East, playoff spot
For the uninitiated, a magic number tells you how many combined wins and rival losses will clinch a given postseason race. After Sunday's win, the Braves' magic number in the NL East has shrunk to 14 with 19 games remaining — meaning any combination of 19 Atlanta wins and Philly losses will hand the division to Walt Weiss and Co. (If you're wondering why the magic number isn't 15, given that there's a five-game gap with 19 games remaining and the formula is normally the difference between those two numbers plus one, the answer is that the Braves have already secured the head-to-head tiebreaker.)
Just making the playoffs has been more or less assumed for a while now, but Atlanta is also inching very close there as well. With a 10-game gap between the Braves and the No. 6 seed at the moment, their magic number is now down to just nine. Of course, Atlanta is aiming much higher right now, as they should, with a division title and a potential first-round bye still hanging in the balance in the season's final weeks.
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