The Braves Advance to the Playoffs

Following the Rays, the Brewers, the Dodgers, and the Yankees, another team has secured its spot in the postseason: the Braves.

The Georgia-based club capitalized on its 90th win of the season and Matt Olson's 40th home run to cement its spot in the playoffs.

Matt Olson is the 5th player in @Braves franchise history with multiple 40-home run seasons, joining:

– Henry Aaron (8x)
– Eddie Mathews (4x)
– Andruw Jones (2x)
– Ronald Acuña Jr. (2x) https://t.co/Du6jGLNJ7B pic.twitter.com/2HPsNCbmYj

— MLB (@MLB) September 19, 2026

The Braves aren't yet guaranteed their division title (unlike the Brewers and Dodgers), but they hold a five-game lead over the Phillies.

In theory, it should be just a formality… especially considering they hold the tiebreaker advantage.

The Braves will therefore soon clinch their division title, and their next challenge will be to knock the Dodgers out of contention for a wild-card spot.

The Braves are four games behind the Dodgers, but the head-to-head record between the two teams works in their favor.

It's worth noting that the Cubs, Phillies, and Padres all have the same record right now: 85-69—a true playoff-caliber record, unlike the American League wild-card teams.

As you can see, the standings are much tighter in the National League than in the American League.

In the American League, the Astros (77-77) are playing for a .500 record and lead their division.

In the National League, the Pirates are also playing for .500 (77-77) and are eight games out of the playoffs. And as of yesterday, they're officially out of the race.

In fact, last night, the Pirates, the Marlins, and the Cardinals were eliminated.

So there are only three spots left to be decided in the National League… and let's just say we have a pretty good idea which teams will qualify.

After all, time is starting to work against the Diamondbacks, who are currently five games out of the playoffs. The Padres just aren't losing these days.

The Arizona team's best chance to qualify is to sweep San Diego in the final series of the year. But to do that, they'll need to close the gap on the playoffs in the meantime…

• 30/30 Season: CJ Abrams becomes the third player in Expos/Nationals franchise history to achieve this feat. Vlad and Alfonso Soriano are the others.

• Shohei Ohtani isn't taking swings off a pitching machine yet.

• The Dodgers' owner isn't out of the woods yet.

Created by humans, assisted by AI.