Arizona Diamondbacks at Atlanta Braves

ATLANTA – It’s been a strange month of August for a Diamondbacks team that is fighting for a postseason berth for the first time since they made it to the World Series in 2023. Arizona (66-58), which is tied for the second National League Wild Card spot, has had to play three of the NL’s toughest teams en route to its 8-6 August record. Prior to this weekend’s series against the Braves at Truist Park, the D-backs split a four-game series with the Padres (who they are tied with in the NL Wild Card standings) and won a series against the Dodgers (who have an eight-game lead in the NL West), with a somewhat fluky series loss against the last-place Rockies sprinkled in. The D-backs earned a series win against the NL East-leading Braves with a 10-3 victory on Saturday night. Arizona has been competitive against the league’s best teams. It’s seemingly a matter of putting all the pieces together – something the D-backs have struggled to do this season – which is exactly what they did to hand Atlanta its fourth series loss at Truist Park this season. “Everybody in that room believes we can tell a really good story and our journey is very incomplete,” said manager Torey Lovullo. “We have to go out and continue to play good baseball. At our core in this organization are pitching and defense, and we believe in that. We know that keeps us in games. When we combine that with a little bit of slug, it’s a complete effort. I want us to keep making statements with good play.” On Friday, it was the defense that shone. Brandon Pfaadt delivered seven innings of two-hit ball and Arizona downed Atlanta 2-0, which was just the eighth time the Braves have been shut out this season. On Saturday, Arizona surrendered two early runs, but the offense erupted for 10 straight runs until Atlanta tacked on a third run in the bottom of the ninth.