As the Braves continue to work on getting consistency from their offense, they have picked up four wins in their last five games. The series against the Rays was one of their best offensive performances as Atlanta had a total of 32 hits, 22 runs, and nine home runs against Tampa.
And while Atlanta still currently sits eight games behind the Phillies, Braves manager Brian Snitker made it clear during a pregame press conference that the Braves are “playing to win the NL East.” The question posed: Would be beneficial for the club to settle for a Wild Card spot.
On Tuesday during The Steakhouse, Sandra Golden and Rusty Mansell shared their thoughts on Snitker's comments. While they both agreed that there is more than enough time for the Braves to make up ground on the NL East division leaders, Rusty believes that Atlanta has to win their its series with Philadelphia.
“All that’s fine and I like that chirpiness, but I’m playing to beat Philadelphia’s you know what,” Mansell said as he expressed not being concerned with the Braves winning the Wild Card. “We’ve done that, the best record in baseball, we’ve raised banners and went up there and got smacked around. Let’s play to beat the Phillies and see what happens after that."