Braves enter stretch firing on all cylinders

ATLANTA -- Had you known how crowded the injured list would become or how problematic the bullpen would be for a couple weeks, you likely wouldn’t have predicted the Braves would exit August with a division lead similar to the one with which they entered the month.

But such was the case after the resilient Braves concluded an eventful month with an 11-5 win over the White Sox on Saturday night at SunTrust Park. Atlanta owns a 5 1/2-game division lead over the Nationals, who gained just one game in the National League East standings while producing MLB’s best winning percentage in August.

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“As much as [the Nationals] have been surging, we’ve done a little surge of our own, right at the right time too because they’re hitting on all cylinders,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said.

This weekend’s three-game series and an upcoming two-game set against the Blue Jays look like an undercard in comparison to what awaits next weekend. The Braves will welcome the Nationals to SunTrust Park for a four-game set that begins Thursday and then travel to Nationals Park for a three-game set the following weekend.

While there’s certainly reason to get excited about what will likely be the most crucial stretch of the season, the Braves understand the importance of these next three games. They would love to maintain their advantage in the NL East heading into this stretch against the Nationals, who remain a longshot to win the division despite winning 15 of 18 games, dating back to Aug. 11.

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The Braves have won 14 of 18 during this stretch. Consequently, according to Fangraphs’ projections, Atlanta has 87.8 percent chance to defend its division crown. With 25 games remaining, the magic number has been reduced to 22.

“The great thing about baseball is you have to go out and do it night in and night out,” Braves third baseman Josh Donaldson said. “We also know in the division, there are some really tough teams. But we feel confident in the team we have here and who we are as a team.”

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The Braves altered their look throughout this past month. They acquired three new relievers -- Mark Melancon, Shane Greene and Chris Martin -- before the July 31 Trade Deadline and then saw their bullpen produce the NL’s second-worst ERA (7.16) through August’s first 16 days.

Even with Martin allowing three runs -- one earned -- during Saturday’s seventh, this much-improved relief corps has produced a NL-best 2.30 bullpen ERA dating back to Aug. 17.

Martin’s rough seventh-inning didn’t erase the comfort the Braves gained via a six-run first inning against Reynaldo López. They added to that advantage when they tallied a three-run seventh with assistance from Ronald Acuña Jr., who came off the bench to contribute a sacrifice fly.

Acuna’s MVP credentials were weakened as he hit .180 and produced a meager .610 OPS while striking out in 37.7 percent of his at-bats over his final 16 games of August. His struggles were balanced by the impressive production provided by Matt Joyce (1.051 OPS) and Donaldson (1.035 OPS), though.

Joyce, who was acquired during Spring Training’s final weekend, has helped fill the void while Nick Markakis (left wrist fracture on July 26) and Ender Inciarte (strained hamstring on Aug. 16) remain on the injured list for an indefinite period. The Braves have also received unexpected value from Billy Hamilton, who tallied an RBI double during Saturday’s first-inning rally.

Markakis, Inciarte, Dansby Swanson, Austin Riley and Brian McCann spent all or a significant portion of August on the injured list. But their absences simply created reason for the Braves to promote Rafael Ortega and acquire Hamilton, Adeiny Hechavarría and Francisco Cervelli, a trio of castoff veterans who have made at least one significant contribution within the past two weeks.

Of course, these recent offensive contributions would have gone for naught without the reliability of the rotation. The Braves' starting pitchers produced the NL’s fourth-best ERA (3.57) in August. Dallas Keuchel limited the White Sox to two runs over six innings on Saturday and exited the month having allowed just three runs over his past 25 innings. Keuchel also contributed two RBIs, bringing his career total to three.

“We’ve been pretty gritty, even with the guys out,” Keuchel said. “We still have to clean up some aspects of the game. But we’ve got a whole month. So hopefully, we can work on a few minor adjustments. We’ll just keep having fun.”