The Times Herald (Norristown, PA)
Braves, Nats won’t make it easy
Phils sit in first, but NL East race a long way from being decided
WASHINGTON » They were never expected to be where they were in the N.L. East at the All-Star break. They were too young. They were not ready. They would be nowhere near the top. Surprise? “Obviously not a lot of people picked us,” one player said. “But we’re here 94 games in and playing great baseball.”
So they are, those Atlanta Braves. And so, Freddie Freeman’s comments and attitude would provide a siren effect to the firstplace Phillies: Do not arrange for an Art Museum steps parade permit just yet.
Though the Phils had the right to enjoy the All-Star break in a state of well-earned, first-place bliss, the Braves and the Nationals were hardly rehearsing their throw-in-the-towel motions.
“At the beginning of the season, if you’d have said we would be a half-game out of first place going into the All-Star break, everybody would have been ecstatic,” Freeman said. “Obviously, we didn’t play the way we wanted to in the last couple weeks. But it is a much-needed break for our whole team.
“It’s a great division. I think we’re going to come down to the wire for all three teams, because you know the Nationals are going to pick up. So this is going to be a tough division I’ve always said that the N.L. East is one of the toughest divisions in baseball, and it is starting to show again.”
The N.L. East was one of two divisions with at least three teams within five and a half games of first place at the break. The N.L. West had four. So if that doesn’t automatically make it among the toughest division, it does mean it will invite a crowded scramble for the championship and any wildcard leftovers.
As for the past-performances, only one of those contenders has a relevant knowledge of how it is to