The Atlanta Braves took yet another blow on the weekend as their nightmare season somehow worsens.
The Philadelphia Phillies put together a winning homestand, winning four straight, and look to finally be coming out of their midseason slumber.
The two teams have had wildly different years. The Phillies still hold a 7.0-game lead heading into their three-game series that begins Tuesday in Atlanta but can't ease off the gas pedal even after the Braves' latest brutal injury news.
Phillies can’t ease off with rival Braves reeling from latest injury news
Third baseman Austin Riley is the newest Braves player to hit the injured list, diagnosed with a fractured right hand after being hit by a 97 mph fastball on Sunday, per MLB.com's Mark Bowman. He'll miss six to eight weeks. Just add his name to the list of the overflowing Atlanta infirmary.
The Phillies' lead in the NL East seems safe, with a wide margin that the Braves haven't been able to make up despite the Phillies' struggles since the All-Star break. The Phillies are 11-17 since the break. The Braves have been only slightly better at 13-16.
But now isn't the time for the Phillies to get complacent. Yes, the Braves are battered and bruised, but they're not going to roll over. A bad series at Truist Park could significantly narrow the gap at the top of the division.
Luckily, the Phillies have their rotation set exactly how you want for this trip to Atlanta. Zack Wheeler will take the ball for the series opener, with Aaron Nola and Cristopher Sánchez to follow.
This will only be Wheeler's second start of the season against the Braves. He faced them on Opening Day but missed them during the Phillies' last trip to Atlanta in early July. He went six shutout innings in that March 29 start. That's exactly the kind of start the Phillies will need to get this road trip off on the right foot.
Phillies find themselves in a battle for the top record in the NL
Even though they hold a strong position in the division, the Phillies have allowed the rest of the National League's top teams to catch up. Suddenly, their once comfortable position with a bye past the Wild Card round is in jeopardy.
The Los Angeles Dodgers, who have gone 18-11 since the break, briefly passed them in the standings last week and head into Tuesday's action tied atop the NL standings. The NL Central-leading Milwaukee Brewers have gone 17-10. They trail the Phillies by a single game.
That's not even mentioning the San Diego Padres (21-6) and the Arizona Diamondbacks (21-8), who have gone on runs since the break and are only 3.0 and 4.0 games, respectively, behind the Phillies.
The next three days in Atlanta will tell us a lot about where this Phillies team is right now. They haven't put their best foot forward in their previous two series with the division rival, with a 2-4 record in the six meetings.
Now it's time to find out: Are the Phillies truly returning to form as the best team in baseball, ready to step on the throats of the once mighty but now reeling Braves?
If they're not, they need to be.