Most baseball lifers, including Braves manager Bobby Cox, will say that just about every team is going to win 60 games no matter what. Except for an elite few, all teams are also going to lose about 60 games.
It's those other 42 games that will be the difference between making the playoffs and spending time on the golf course in October. Thus, when the schedule gives you a chance to beat teams that are more likely to win 60 games rather than 100, you have to take advantage.
Atlanta's nine-game trip was supposed to be one where it took advantage of the league's worst teams, as the club faced perennial bottom feeders Pittsburgh, Washington and Cincinnati.
Thus far, the journey has been utterly disappointing.
The Braves were supposed to take care of business against the Pirates, who have not finished with a winning record since Francisco Cabrera drove in Sid Bream in Game 7 of the 1992 NL Championship Series.
But the bats didn't show up right away. The Braves were blanked in the first two games before posting an 11-1 win in the final game of the set Sunday.
Atlanta then jetted to Washington to face a one-win Nationals team that was in so much turmoil that acting GM Mike Rizzo hit the panic button and revamped his "incompetent" bullpen in advance of the Braves' arrival.
Somehow, that one-win Washington team became a three-win team as Atlanta limped to Cincinnati. Through six games on the trip, Atlanta is 2-4.
The Braves could salvage a winning trip with a three-game sweep of the Reds -- a club that has not had a winning record since 2000. Anything less, and the trip certainly will be deemed a disappointment.
