Braves rotation for Phillies showdown is front-loaded with a real challenge

At long last, we've arrived on the precipice of the most important stretch of the regular season. Starting on Friday, the Philadelphia Phillies will square off with the Atlanta Braves seven times in 10 days, including a four-game series at home over the weekend.

The ramifications of this interval will be vast; not only do the Phillies have a path to tightening their grip on the top NL Wild Card, but they can also usurp the Braves for the NL East lead. They'll have to win six of the seven games to accomplish that latter task, but even just closing the gap in the division would be a nice way to kick off September.

The Braves aren't just going to roll over and let the scorching hot Phillies offense post crooked numbers, however. They've aligned their rotation in such a way that their best pitchers will hit the mound early and often in the series, starting with Cy Young contender Chris Sale.

Phillies, Braves set to throw rotation haymakers at each other in all-important weekend series

As imposing as Sale is -- not to mention how strong Martin Pérez and Tyler Mahle have been for the Braves this year -- don't fret quite yet. The Phillies will be countering with their own Monstars, sending out Cristopher Sánchez in game one, followed by Zack Wheeler, Aaron Nola, and Jesús Luzardo.

Not only does that mean we're due for some incredible pitching matchups all weekend long, but also that Don Mattingly's squad should be able to exploit their biggest advantage over Atlanta. Save for the Sale-Sánchez clash (which is mostly a wash in terms of talent), the Phillies will enter games two (Wheeler against Pérez) and four (Luzardo against Elder) with the upper hand on the mound.

And, in even better news, the Phillies won't have to see Sale twice in this 10-day stretch. The Braves, who are currently utilizing a six-man rotation, are slated to send their ace southpaw back onto the mound on Thursday, September 10 against the Rays, one day before the Phillies come to town. They could always push his start back so that he does go in that second Philly series, but that'd require them to waste Pérez against Tampa Bay or pitch someone else on short rest.

Of course, by that same logic, both Sánchez and Wheeler are scheduled to miss the second series as well, but it's easier to push back or shuffle a five-man rotation around than a six-man one. And as long as we dodge the Sale bullet, the Phillies should have the starting pitching advantage over the next 10 days regardless of any shifts.

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