Braves are playing with fire in season-long dominance of Diamondbacks

The Arizona Diamondbacks should have beaten the Atlanta Braves late on Monday night in their series opener in the desert. The defending National League champions were up 3-1 with one out to to go in the top of the ninth inning. Then, Braves backstop Sean Murphy went yard on a two-run bomb to tie it up. Atlanta would go on to defeat the Snakes 5-4 in extra innings to take Game One of the series. They are 4-0 vs. Arizona on the year so far.

In case you forgot, which I totally did, to be honest you, the Braves' play-by-play guy over the airwaves in Ben Ingram tweeted out a sweet graphic showing the Atlanta's win probability in three of their four victories over the Diamondbacks this year. All three games in question show Arizona being up late before Atlanta rallied back to win. Arizona hates closer Paul Sewald with a fiery passion now.

Even more impressive for the Braves, the 5-4 victory was the first time in god knows how long Atlanta won a game where the opponent scored three or more runs. Atlanta has lived and died by its pitching staff, while the offense has varied from putrid to inconsistent at best. It is why designated hitter Marcell Ozuna is the only "position player" heading to the All-Star game in Arlington from the Braves.

The only things these win probability charts remind me of are Atlanta Falcons and Texas A&M games.

Atlanta is now 7.5 games back of the Philadelphia Phillies in division after winning three in a row.

Atlanta Braves are playing with fire vs. Arizona Diamondbacks this year

Unless something drastic changes, Corbin Carroll and the boys won't be playing October baseball in the desert this postseason. Atlanta may not catch Philadelphia in-division, but the Braves are certainly good enough to be a top-six team in the Senior Circuit, barring some unforeseen collapse. Since Bobby Cox watched the team in-person at Truist on Saturday night, Atlanta has not lost a game.

I think what we are seeing is the Braves finally waking up from their offensive comatose slumber that lasted for two-plus months. It sucked to endure, but it may be a thing of the past. Then again, this may be the narrative for the 2024 Braves all season long. This is not a World Series team by any stretch of the imagination. That being said, I remember feeling similar ways three years ago with the 2021 team.

Ultimately, Atlanta needs to carry as much positive momentum into the All-Star Break as it can. Although Ozuna is taking part in the Home Run Derby, that's a no for me, dawg. Let Pete Alonso play in his Super Bowl. I would rather see Big Bear hang out with his kids and not ruin his sweet swing he found a little over a year ago. He was this close to being DFA'd. Thankfully, Miami is his MLB panacea.

As Diamondbacks want to throw Sewald over the seawall, the Braves will take every win they can get.