NEW YORK, NY – AUGUST 6: Starling Marte #6 of the New York Mets steals second base in front of Dansby Swanson #7 of the Atlanta Braves during the seventh inning in the second game of a doubleheader at Citi Field on August 6, 2022 in the Queens borough of New York City. (Photo by Adam Hunger/Getty Images)
The Braves are looking up at the New York Mets in the NL East race but Atlanta has one ace in the hole that could allow them to chase down their rivals.
Without question, the Atlanta Braves and fans were hoping that their recent trip to Citi Field to face the rival New York Mets would go a bit differently. They dropped four games in the five-game set and fell further behind in the NL East race after narrowing the gap over the past few months.
Entering Tuesday’s action with Atlanta facing the Red Sox in Fenway and New York hosting the Reds, the Braves sat at a disappointing 7.0 games back in the division race.
However, there are still two-ish months of the season remaining and Atlanta has a proverbial ace in the hole that could still allow the defending World Series champions to chase down their rivals and take the NL East crown.
Braves have huge home-field advantage against Mets down the stretch
While the Mets have an easy schedule overall down the stretch, their remaining games do include seven more contests against the Braves. And much to the delight of the reigning champs, all seven of those games will be played at home in Truist Park.
For as good as Atlanta has been overall this season, they’ve been downright dominant at home in comparison to the road. For the year, they have a 37-22 record at Truist Park while posting a good-not-great 27-24 mark away from home.
Sure, the Braves will need to make up ground on the Mets outside of the remaining games against their rivals. However, it’s a huge advantage for the club that they get to play the final seven games against the team they’re trying to catch at the ballpark where they’ve found the most success in 2022.
All of this is to say, even though Atlanta has fallen behind in the division race, don’t totally count them out just yet.
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