Braves accomplish something they hadn’t done in a decade

The Atlanta Braves walked into Citizens Bank Park for a three-game set beginning Friday and left with a sweep, taking all three from the Phillies in Philadelphia for the first time since September of 2016.

The pitching — as it has been all season — was nothing short of sensational, allowing just three runs over the entire series. Chris Sale, Martín Pérez, and Grant Holmes all handled their business, and the bullpen didn’t give up a single run across the three games.

Offensively, the Braves finally started to get production from a few key bats that had been quiet to open the year. Austin Riley launched a couple of homers and tallied five hits overall. Michael Harris II chipped in six hits of his own, including a pair of home runs — and he only played in two of the three games.

The sweep extends Atlanta’s winning streak to five and pushes them to 15–7 heading into a four-game set with the Washington Nationals. Surprisingly, the Nationals are tied for second in the NL East, though still five games back. The Braves now sit 6.5 games ahead of the Phillies and a staggering eight games ahead of the Mets, who are somehow in the middle of an 11-game losing streak.

Atlanta remains the only team in Major League Baseball that hasn’t lost a series this season. If that continues through this upcoming set with Washington, they could be staring at a historic early lead in the division — one that’s going to start putting immense pressure on the rest of the NL East.