#185: Half-way Home, Let’s Hope We Are Not Caught In A Rundown.

Gil from Mechanicsville

27 Jun 2019

 

The Braves have completed the first half of the 2019 season and somewhat surprisingly, they are 4 1/2 games ahead of the Phillies who are maintaining the second slot.

The Washington Nationals have hit a soft spot in their schedule and are making a push towards the top but are one game under 500 and sit 7-1/2 games behind the 1st place Braves.

The Mets have taken a nose dive towards the cellar and look to vie with the Marlins for last place in the division. So, there is still a long way to go in the season and as we all know, any team is only one major injury away from having to cash it in for the season. That is, any team not named the Yankees or the Dodgers who are so deep they appear able to withstand just about anything other than a plane crash.

The Braves are currently in the middle of a 10 game road trip. They took two out of three from the Nats and split a four game series with the Cubs in Chicago. Perhaps more importantly, they have won the season series with the Cubs 5 game to 2. This could be important if the Cubbies manage to win the NL Central.

The Braves are now on their way to New York for three game date with the struggling Mets before heading home to finish up the first half prior to the All-star break. They will play 3 games against the Phillies and 3 with the Marlins.

That means the Braves have 9 games before they take a much deserved break. By tomorrow, we will learn which of the Bravos will be playing in Cleveland. I am pretty sure the Braves will be well represented, let’s hope none get hurt.

NL Standings as of 27 June 2019:

National League – East

1		Atlanta Braves	48	34	.585	0	24-17	24-17	445	400	45	16-11	44-32
2		Philadelphia Phillies	43	38	.531	4.5	27-17	16-21	391	387	4	20-17	38-35
3		Washington Nationals	39	40	.494	7.5	21-19	18-21	396	383	13	21-17	36-39
4		New York Mets	37	45	.451	11	20-14	17-31	390	423	-33	19-19	33-42
5		Miami Marlins	30	48	.385	16	13-27	17-21	273	350	-77	12-24	25-44

National League – Central

1		Chicago Cubs	44	37	.543	0	29-16	15-21	411	348	63	13-11	37-31
2		Milwaukee Brewers	43	38	.531	1	25-17	18-21	399	405	-6	20-12	40-31
3		St. Louis Cardinals	40	39	.506	3	24-18	16-21	358	349	9	15-17	36-33
4		Pittsburgh Pirates	38	41	.481	5	17-19	21-22	371	425	-54	12-14	28-37
5		Cincinnati Reds	36	42	.462	6.5	19-17	17-25	336	296	40	13-19	30-35

National League – West

• 1		Los Angeles Dodgers	55	27	.671	0	34-9	21-18	425	300	125	24-10	54-24
  2		Colorado Rockies	42	38	.525	12	22-15	20-23	444	424	20	18-16	35-34
  3		Arizona Diamondbacks	41	41	.500	14	17-22	24-19	423	376	47	14-25	32-37
  4		San Diego Padres	40	40	.500	14	21-20	19-20	361	388	-27	16-17	33-37
  5		San Francisco Giants	34	45	.430	19.5	16-23	18-22	306	399	-93	18-22	28-38