Reality check

Atlanta won its sixth consecutive game yesterday, 6-3 vs. Washington in ten innings. It was the Braves tenth consecutive win on the road and it gave the club three straight road sweeps.

Not bad at all.

Only problem is the Braves return home today and face a must-win situation vs. Florida. If Atlanta doesn't make it seven straight wins, the reality is the first six won't matter for much - that's because Colorado and Philly held on yesterday for one-run victories, moving the Braves that much closer to elimination.

The Braves are five back of Philly with seven games left on the schedule and there really isn't anything to be done about it. I guess we can hope Philly loses seven straight, but I don't see that working out so well.

The Braves are only 2.5 back of Colorado. The Rockies have just six games left, so a win tonight would leave the Braves two back with six to play. And a loss would undo all the hard work from these past few days.

If we fall three back with six to play then we might as well be pulling for Philly to act like the Mets from a couple of years back, because that's what we'll need to get an invitation to October.

Jair Jurrjens gets the ball tonight vs. Anibal Sanchez. Jurrjens has emerged as one of the best starters in the league while Sanchez is just 3-7. Okay, I'm trying to be optimistic. Sanchez only has three wins, but he's beaten the Braves twice already this year. And in his most recent outing he tossed eight innings of shutout ball vs. Philly.

In other words, tonight is pretty much it. Jurrjens and the Braves step up again and make it seven wins in a row, or else reality finally begins to set in.

Trivia tidbit: The strong play of Martin Prado has contributed significantly to the Braves postseason push. He scored two runs in yesterday's victory vs. Washington, giving him at least one run scored in ten consecutive games. That ties him with Shane Victorino, Johnny Damon, and Prince Fielder for the longest such streak in the majors this season.