With the Atlanta Braves’ three-game sweep of the Cardinals just completed Sunday afternoon in St. Louis, Braves announcer Chip Caray turned to sidekick Joe Simpson and said of the start of tonight’s three-game series at Yankee Stadium in New York, “This should be fun.”
If he’s right, if the Peachtree Pounders can win at least two of three from the Bronx Bombers, Braves Nation might be justified to dream bigger dreams for this fall than merely reaching the playoffs. Their heroes just might make it all the way to the World Series.
And this certainly has the look of a Fall Classic played in July. Atlanta will enter Yankee Stadium with the best road record in the National League (25-17). The Yanks arrived at their home park for Sunday night’s game against the Boston Red Sox with the best home record (30-12) in the majors.
The pitching matchup isn’t bad, either. Anibal Sanchez – who owns a 4-1 record and a 3.79 ERA in six career starts against New York – will challenge the Pinstripers’ Jonathan Loaisiga, who is 2-0 with a 1.93 ERA this season.
Then there’s that run differential thing. Heading into the Boston game, the Yankees were third in the majors at plus-101, and the Braves were fifth at plus-82.