Here are three things we learned from the Braves' 1-0 loss to the Reds, a hard-luck defeat which precluded Atlanta (68-62) from claiming partial ownership of the National League's second wild card slot.
Here's hoping you didn't visit the kitchen refrigerator or bathroom during the first inning of this game ... otherwise, you would have missed the Braves' only hit of the first six frames -- a harmless leadoff single from Emilio Bonifacio.
As such, Leake (six strikeouts) enjoyed a dominant stretch from Innings 1-6 -- after the Bonifacio hit (and subsequent caught stealing) -- retiring 17 of the next 18 hitters.
The Braves were confounded in the final two innings, striking out four times in the final four at-bats -- with Reds closer Aroldis Chapman fanning Freddie Freeman, Justin Upton and Chris Johnson in the 9th.
In terms of trying to cultivate some bigger-picture assessment of the Braves' batting night, it seems like a pointless exercise:
This is a classically schizophrenic group. From April to August, Atlanta has scored just three runs or less a whopping 70 times (at least 13 outings per month); on the flip side, the Braves have tallied seven or more runs 18 times.
In his 25th start with the club, this marked the first time Santana had pitched when the Braves failed to score a run; so, all in all, he's been blessed with solid offensive support whenever taking the mound.
On Saturday, Santana (seven strikeouts) matched the Reds' Leake, blow by blow, allowing just one run and four hits over seven strong innings.
Of those seven frames, Santana faced four or less batters six times; and his one "bad" inning was rather tepid, humbly giving up a two-out RBI single to Brandon Phillips in the 6th. On most nights, it would have been a mere blip on the radar of a winning performance.
Instead, Santana watched his record fall to 13-7 ... even though his seasonal ERA dropped 11 points to 3.60.
Which brings us to this: Of the Braves' final 32 games, it's possible Santana could get the nod seven more times; and if that estimate only ends up as "six" ... that would put him in position to possibly start in the Wild Card round, against either the Cardinals (WC #1), Giants or Pirates -- but probably not the Reds (62-68).
For what it's worth, Santana has a combined ERA of 7.13 against San Francisco, St. Louis and Pittsburgh this season.
Check this out about the Giants (68-60), who lead the Braves for the NL's fifth playoff slot -- if the postseason started today -- despite playing two fewer games than Atlanta:
After a three-game road trip to Detroit early next month (Sept. 5-7), San Francisco closes the regular season with an odd sequence of home/away series with three divisional opponents -- Los Angeles, Arizona and San Diego.
Perhaps that's a consequence of cutting down the travel for West Coast clubs, but the Giants could be staring at a fortuitous finishing kick from Sept. 9-28, taking on bottom-feeder clubs like the Diamondbacks and Padres ... and maybe encountering a Dodgers club that has already clinched the National League West.
In other words, the Braves (21-21 in one-run games) must dominate the Mets, Marlins, Phillies and Rangers before the September slate tightens up with six outings against the NL East-leading Nationals and suddenly surging Pirates (three straight victories) ... because the Giants are a decent bet for .600 ball during the season's final month.
