Basking in the glory of the Atlanta Braves' first sweep over the Dodgers since 2013, the mood has shifted swiftly in Atlanta. Chris Sale punctuated the series sweep with his first complete game shutout since 2019. More importantly, Atlanta's Thursday night victory closed the gap between them and the Dodgers in the race for a first round bye in the playoffs.
Just a week ago, momentum seemed to be building toward Milwaukee and LA claiming the top two seeds in the National League. Atlanta's series sweep over LA brought that momentum to a halt, dropping the Dodgers' lead over Atlanta to just one game in the loss column.
The first priority remains winning the NL East (Atlanta holds a five game lead over Philadelphia entering Friday), but after that, securing a first round bye should be a big goal for Atlanta. Manuevering Sale's rotation spot to pitch against both the Brewers and Dodgers shows the Braves realize the importance of bypassing the wild card round.
That move paid off, as Atlanta reeled off three consecutive one-run victories over the defending champs in a postseason-esque series. Unfortunately, despite narrowing the Dodgers' lead as the NL two seed, Atlanta's path to overtaking LA is much more difficult than most people realize.
After review, Braves sweep 😏 pic.twitter.com/iIdqID4WiB
— Atlanta Braves (@Braves) August 28, 2026
Braves have a rough September schedule ahead, meanwhile the Dodgers have a cake walk
While the Braves now own the head-to-head tiebreaker over the Dodgers, finishing with the same - or a greater number - of wins will be a challenge. This is mostly due to the difference in each team's schedule over the final month of the regular season.
The Braves have seven division-deciding games against the Phillies, as well as series against the Chicago Cubs and the American League leading Rays. Meanwhile, the Dodgers' September schedule couldn't get much easier. Los Angeles opens September with the sub .500 Cardinals, then does not face an opponent with a winning record until the middle of the month when they play the (68-66) Marlins.
Los Angeles also has two series against both the Reds and the Giants, a couple of disappointing teams desperate for the 2026 season to end. In fact, the only current playoff team the Dodgers will face in September is the current sixth seed, San Diego Padres.
The other team to consider here is the team with the best record in the NL, the Brewers. The Brew Crew have a challenging September ahead, with multiple series with the Cubs left to play. However, their current four-game lead over Atlanta gives them some room for error. Atlanta will be scoreboard watching in September for sure; let's hope some of these underdog teams can rise to the occasion against the other National League contenders.
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