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ATLANTA -- When the Braves exited this season's first month, they were still reeling from a nine-game losing streak and providing reason to wonder if Bobby Cox's final days on the bench would prove to be somber.


Fueled by a torrid run through May, the Braves now will enter the season's final month in prime position to allow Cox to make one more run through the postseason before he concludes his highly-successful managerial career.
Cox celebrated division championships during each of the first 14 full seasons of his current tenure as the Braves manager. With 28 games remaining, he finds his club situated to win another National League East crown or at least find entry into the postseason via the Wild Card.


Entering Friday's series opener in Miami, the Braves own a two-game lead over the Phillies in the National League East race. They stand four games in front of the Giants, who sit directly behind the front-running Phillies in the Wild Card race.


"This is the most fun I've ever had coming to the field this late in the year," Braves catcher Brian McCann said. "I can't say enough about the guys that I'm playing with. It's a special group. We're just having a really good time showing up at the field and playing hard every night."


McCann was one of the 18 rookies who helped the Braves notch the NL East crown in 2005, back when it essentially assumed that Cox's club would be an annual postseason participant. All assurances have been erased while the past four Octobers have passed without the presence of a meaningful game at Turner Field.


Barring an epic collapse or torrid surge produced by the Braves, at least a portion of this upcoming October will once again be meaningful at Turner Field. The Phillies will spend the first three days of next month playing a season-ending three-game series in Atlanta.


While the Phillies might still be in position to notch a fourth consecutive division title, the Braves will almost certainly be energized by the excitement created by a potential postseason berth and the tributes that will center around Cox's last regular-season weekend as a Major League manager.


"There isn't anybody in this clubhouse who hasn't thought about how special it would be to send Bobby out in celebratory fashion," Braves outfielder Matt Diaz said.


The Braves will experience some familiarity while playing 21 of their last 28 games and each of their final 18 games against NL East opponents. They'll head to Philadelphia for a three-game series that begins Sept. 20. The defending NL champions will then come to Atlanta the following weekend for the season-ending showdown.


"That's the way you want it," McCann said. "You want to go up against teams in your division and be able to dictate what happens."


The only non-divisional games remaining for the Braves consist of a three-game series against the NL-worst Pirates and a four-game series against the reeling Cardinals, who have severely damaged their postseason hopes over the past two weeks.


Entering Thursday, three of the six remaining opponents -- Marlins, Cardinals and Phillies -- on the Braves schedule had winning records. Three of the five remaining opponents -- Brewers, Nationals and Mets -- for the Phillies have posted losing records.


Both the Braves and Phillies have fared better while playing within the confines of their respective cities this year. The Braves have produced a Major League-best .720 winning percentage (49-19) at home this year and gone 29-37 on the road. The only series they've lost at Turner Field this year came way back in April against the Phillies.


The Phillies have posted a .617 winning percentage at Citizens Bank Park and gone 34-32 on the road. They will play 16 of their final 28 games in Philadelphia.


Unfortunately for the Braves, they will play just 13 of their final 28 games within the friendly environment that Turner Field has proved to be this year.


But heading into the season's final months, it doesn't matter what has happened in the past. April's nine-game losing streak has long since been clouded by the ability to claim the season-long goal to give Cox one more chance to experience the postseason.


"It's the same goal and the same mindset," Braves outfielder Jason Heyward said. " We have to go into this with the mindset that we have to win these games. We had to win in the first month and we have to win in this month."

Braves Draft Picks

Name (Selection #, Round)

Position

B-T

School

Hometown

Matt Lipka (Compensation, 35) SS R-R McKinney High School   Frisco, TX
Thomas Cunningham (2, 53)   3B S-R Jacksonville State University Jacksonville, AL
Andrelton Simmons (2, 70)  RHP R-R Western Oklahoma State JC Mundo-Novo, Curacao
Joseph Leonard (3, 101)   3B R-R University of Pittsburgh Dawson, PA
David Filak (4, 134) RHP R-R Oneonta State Scotia, NY
Philip Gosselin (5, 164) 2B R-R University of Virginia West Chester, PA
Joseph Terdoslavich (6, 194) 1B S-R Long Beach State Sarasota, FL
Matthew Suschak (7, 224) RHP R-R University of Toledo Broadview Heights, OH
Kurt Fleming (8, 254) OF S-R St. Christopher’s School Louisa, VA
David Rohn (9, 284) 3B R-R Fresno City CC Clovis, CA
Matthew Lewis (10, 314)   RHP R-R University of California-Davis Redding, CA
Chasen Shreve (11, 344) LHP L-L College Southern Nevada Las Vegas, NV
Barrett Kleinknect (12, 374) SS R-R Francis Marion University Florence, SC
Brandon Drury (13, 404)  SS R-R Grant Pass High School Grant Pass, OR
Richard Tate (14, 434) RHP R-R Marked Tree High School Marked Tree, AR
Cory Brownsten (15, 464) C R-R University of Pittsburgh Lockport, NY
Daniel Winnie (16, 494) RHP R-R  Lackawanna College Danville, PA
Tyler Hess (19, 584) RHP R-R Sonoma State University Alamo, CA
Jason Mowry (20, 614) OF L-R St. Petersburg JC  Longwood, FL
William Beckwith (21, 644) 1B L-L George C. Wallace CC Crawford, MS
James Gattis (23, 704) C R-R University of TX-Permian Basin Forney, TX
Evan Danieli (24, 734) RHP R-R  University of Notre Dame East Hanover, NJ
Daniel Jurik (25, 764) RHP R-R St. John Fisher College Vestal, NY
Jonathan Burns (26, 794) RHP R-R St. Edwards University Austin, TX
William Kempf (27, 824) RHP R-R Baylor University Castroville, TX
Kyle Mertins (28, 854) RHP R-R Cal. State Univ.-Fullerton Placentia, CA
Kenny Fleming (30, 914) OF L-L  Shelton State CC Louisa, VA
Ryan Delgado (32, 974) C R-R Azusa Pacific University Upland, CA
Mathew Fouch (34, 1034) LHP L-L United States Military Acad. Stafford, VA
Jarred Frierson (36, 1094) OF S-R University of Las Vegas Los Angeles, CA
Stephen Foster (39, 1184) LHP L-L Lewis & Clark State College Auburn, WA
Ian Marshall (40, 1214) RHP R-R University of Richmond Gaithersburg, MD
Joseph Lucas (45, 1364) SS R-R Dakota County Tech Jordan, MN
Francois LaFreniere (47, 1424) RHP R-R St. Petersburg College St. Bruno, Canada

 

 

2010 Schedule

The Braves announced their 2010 schedule, which features the Cubs on Opening Day, the Phillies to close out the season and Interleague play against the AL Central.


Perusing the new schedule, Chipper Jones noticed a lot of heavy-hitters coming up in April, with 13 games against clubs in contention for this year’s playoffs: the Giants, the Rockies, the Phillies and the Cardinals.

“Next April is going to be a bear,” Jones said.

The Braves’ interleague matchups lack the star power of the Red Sox or Yankees but Jones’ raised his eyebrows at facing the Tampa Bay Rays and the Detroit Tigers. He was disappointed the Braves play the Royals at home and not on the road. Kansas City is the only major league city he’s never played in.

Click HERE for the entire schedule...


Some dates to note:

● The Braves open at home for the first time in six years, hosting the Chicago Cubs on Monday, April 5, at Turner Field in the first of a three-game series.

● The Braves go west on their first trip of the year, playing San Francisco and San Diego for six games April 9-15.

● The Tampa Bay Rays visit Turner Field for the first time since 2001 on June 15-17.

● The other four interleague series all fall in June: the Royals (June 18-20) and Tigers (June 25-27) at Turner Field and the Twins (June 11-13) and White Sox (June 22-24) on the road. The Twins will be playing in new Target Field next season.

● The Braves close out the season with a homestand against the Marlins (Sept. 27-29) and Phillies (Oct. 1-3). They will play the Phillies in six of their final 12 games.

“Well, I dare say those last couple series against the Phillies will probably mean something, either way,” Jones said.



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Copyright Cumulus Media Inc., 2010
Privacy Statement | Terms Of Use | EEO Report