MLB Standings: Braves Gain Ground In NL East

The Atlanta Braves began the week 6.5 games behind the NL East leading Washington Nationals, but the team now finds themselves 4.5 games back with nine games left to play, after the Braves took five of their seven games this week.

While Atlanta's odds of winning the NL East division remains slim, the team does have a very comfortable lead on one of the two wild card spots.

National League Wild Card Standings

	W	L	PCT	GB	STRK
Atlanta	88	65	.575	0	Won 2
St. Louis	82	71	.535	6	Won 2
Milwaukee	79	73	.519	8.5	Won 1
Los Angeles	78	74	.513	9.5	Lost 1
Arizona	77	75	.506	10.5	Won 3
Philadelphia	77	76	.503	11	Lost 2
Pittsburgh	75	77	.493	12.5	Won 1
San Diego	73	80	.477	15	Won 1
New York	69	83	.453	18.5	Won 3
Miami	66	87	.431	22	Lost 4
Chicago	59	94	.385	29	Lost 2
Colorado	58	94	.381	29.5	Lost 9
Houston	50	103	.326	38	Lost 1

(updated 9.23.2012 at 5:47 PM PDT)

With a win Sunday afternoon, the Braves magic number is down to just two and the team will have an opportunity to clinch a playoffs berth at home, as the team will play six straight games at home starting Tuesday before closing out the season with a three-game series on the road.

For updates, stay tuned to SB Nation Atlanta. For more in-depth coverage, head over to Braves blog Talking Chop. And for more news, notes and analysis from around the league, visit Baseball Nation.