Braves earned postseason berth with a 3-2 win over Nationals and a loss by Brewers

The clubhouse was very silent with no celebration following a 3-2 win over the Washington Nationals. The defending World Series Champion Atlanta Braves locked in their postseason position after the Milwaukee Brewers lost to the NL East leaders, NY Mets 7-5. Although this will send the Braves to the postseason, this was not the goal. The Braves management and fans know that the NL East division crown is within reach. The Braves trail the New York Mets by one game in a very close race for the division. If Atlanta secures the NL East division championship, they will have won 5 consecutive division titles.

The talk in the clubhouse was very faint and only country music played softly as the Braves players know the job is not done. “Obviously we’re aiming for higher, but making the playoffs is a big deal,” Travis D’Arnaud said. “A lot of Hall of Famers played their whole career and never made it to the playoffs. But for us it’s as simple as try to win every series. It’s a marathon. It’s not over.”

The Braves have found recent dominance over the Washington Nationals as they have gone 26-8 in their last 34 against them over a two-year span. They have hit 35 homeruns against the Nationals this season and lead the National League with 224 homeruns in addition to their stellar pitching staff. Starting Pitcher, Charlie Morton won his 9th game of the season and laser focused closing pitcher, Kenly Jansen, secured his 36th save of the year to boost the Braves record to 93-55. Atlanta has 14 games remaining in the regular season, but more importantly every single game is against a National League East opponent. This gives the Braves a great chance to fight for the NL East division title, but to also gain ground for a possibility of having home field advantage for the NLDS or possibly the NLCS should they reach that stage. The only way to defend their World Series championship is to qualify for the postseason and the Braves have done that. Now we will see how far this 2022 team can go as the mindset in the clubhouse is all about winning and taking it one series at a time.