If the season ended today, the Atlanta Braves would be safely in the playoffs as the first wild card in the NL.
Of course, as Braves fans well know from their spectacular September collapse in 2011, the season doesn't end for a few more weeks.
For now, Atlanta is in excellent shape at 81-60. With the Washington Nationals at 86-54, the NL East crown is probably out of the question, but the St. Louis Cardinals (at 75-65) are the nearest challenger to Atlanta in the wild card race.
But with the addition of the second wild card, the wild card is no longer the prize it once was. All Atlanta will get for being the first wild card is the chance to host a one-game playoff before the start of the divisional series.
The Cardinals are currently 1 game ahead of the Pittsburgh Pirates and 2.5 games ahead of the Los Angeles Dodgers in the race to see who would play the Braves in the play-in game.
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