A rainy and disappointing weekend behind them, the Braves can take solace in the fact that they played some inspired baseball for over a week. They should also feel good that they will be facing one of those teams that they swept just last week -- the Mets. Extra excitement should be had knowing that no rain is forecast for at least the first two games of the series.
That 7-game winning streak helped drive the confidence of Atlanta Braves fans much higher than it had been after three previous weeks of decline. The late-season low point was reached last week with a fan confidence of just 49, but that was erased by 7 wins to the tune of a 66% fan confidence in the team this week.
While the Braves postseason hopes are still mathematically alive, their reality is less so. The Phillies are an insurmountable 8.5 games in front of Atlanta, and the Rockies are 5.5 games ahead in the wild card race. As much as we have all enjoyed the Braves' inspired play recently, it seems to be too little too late.