Going into this exciting and final month of the regular season, I had one particular stretch of games circled on my personal calendar. I’d understand if you guessed that the multiple games against the Phillies would be the ones I’d be paying attention to the most. While those games are likely going to end up being the most important since it’s a direct competition between the two top teams in the division, that’s not what I was focusing on. Atlanta’s proven that they can go toe-to-toe with the Phillies and they can take care of the rest of the division as well, so the NL East-centric part of September wasn’t a huge worry for me as a fan.
Nope, I was worried about Atlanta’s trip out West to experience what those teams had to offer. I really don’t have to go into detail about how much of a struggle it’s been for the Braves when it comes to facing off with the teams over on the left coast, but I will anyways because I’m a glutton for punishment and it will also serve as a point of reference for just how impressive this past week was for the Braves.
Back in June, Ivan did a post about the Braves’ West Coast struggles ahead of their first trip over there. It wasn’t pretty. The last time the Braves escaped from the West Coast with a winning record was 2012 — not even our most recent division-winning team had a winning record on the road against teams out West.
Instead, most of the recent memories that we’ve had involved stuff like the entire infield forgetting how to play defense against the Angels, the Dodgers crushing our dreams while their stadium’s sound system crushes our earlobes, the Giants just continuously and repeatedly taking it to our team in their beautiful ballpark, and Petco Park just generally being the bane of the Braves’ existence. It’s been rough!
Fortunately, it appears that the Braves may have finally conquered their West Coast boogeyman with their performances out West this season. Their win last night over the Giants assured that they would finish the season with a winning record against NL West teams on the road. In fact, this is the first time that the Braves have won a series at AT&T Park since 2011. They’re currently 9-6 in NL West ballparks this season, with five of those wins coming at an extremely opportune time for the Braves.
Last night’s win was especially important as well, since the Braves were able to lop off a significant chunk of their Magic Number after the Phillies lost both games of a home doubleheader against the Nationals. While that was going on, Mike Foltynewicz was busy taking care of business in a major way against a Giants offense that is clearly just playing out the string at this point. On the other side of things, Atlanta’s offense continued to power its way towards a strong finish to the season.
SWEET CHARLIE!
— FOX Sports: Braves (@FOXSportsBraves) September 12, 2018
Charlie Culberson comes on to replace Johan Camargo after his injury. He pays immediate dividends with his 11th home run of the season. #Braves | #ChopOn pic.twitter.com/f9vYdhLTZ1
It would have always been nice to see the Braves break out of their historical West Coast slump but this was probably the best time for it to happen. It’s especially nice when you consider that there’s a decent chance that the Braves will have to go out West during the playoffs, should they hold on to this divisional lead down the final stretch. This year’s team has proven that they can indeed go out West and beat those teams, so maybe we won’t have to endure those anxiety-filled late nights of West Coast baseball once the playoffs roll around.
The regular season may not mean too much once the playoffs get rolling, but you have to feel good about the Braves chances out West when they’ve finally figured out how to flip the switch out there.
Ender's crushing 3-run homers in Phoenix, Arizona
— Atlanta Braves (@Braves) September 9, 2018
Such a fine sight to see pic.twitter.com/TkvWnv3WXn
This season has been full of pleasant surprises and while this probably isn’t on the level of other surprises that have helped fuel what’s been a great season for the Braves, it’s definitely near the top. NL West ballparks have been like a neighborhood of nightmares for this team, but it appears that they’ve finally figured out how to slay the dragons who reside in those caves out there. The Braves have figured out the West, so maybe the World is now their oyster?