When I looked at the schedule a couple of weeks ago, the one thing I thought I could be fairly confident about was that the initial Braves-Phillies series wasn’t going to be very important. I mean, sure, the games would count, sure, it is better to win than to lose, and sure, there could be some psychological advantage to one side or the other based on the outcome. What I didn’t expect, though, is the possibility that the Braves could bury themselves 12 games into the season.

“Bury” is too strong a term, of course. The Braves trail the Phillies by 6 games, and even 9 games before the Masters is finished isn’t necessarily fatal. Heck, in 1964 the Phillies led the Cardinals by 11 games with 39 to play, and 6 1/2 with 10 to play and managed to blow the pennant. And the Braves don’t have to beat the Phillies to make the playoffs: they are currently only 5.5 out of a Wild Card spot, as stupid as it is to even look this up at this point int the season. (I am reminded of Chip’s incessant: “we’re all big ____ fans today” on some day in August when we were no such thing.)

But this is a struggling team, and you don’t break out of your struggles until you break out of your struggles. And as Tim McCarver, a Cardinal stalwart in 1964, said: “Ballplayers are animalistic when they can smell the blood, and on the contrary, when you’re leaking blood, you understand that the prowl is underway. Those are the laws of the nature, and those, really, are the laws of baseball. When you can smell the blood, you do things that you wouldn’t ordinarily do. You’re better than you think you are. And when you’re losing like that, you’re worse than you really are.”

If the Braves were 5-3 leading into this series, even a sweep would be just something you put behind you. But a sweep under the current circumstances would be grim. It’s early, but the Braves practically have to win one of these, and losing the series would just redouble the pressure into the next series against Tampa Bay.

Finally, add to the mix that the pitching matchup pits the two guys who got all but one 1st and 2nd place votes in last year’s Cy Young voting. Chris Sale is lifetime 1-2 against the Phillies, with a solid no-decision start last year. Zack Wheeler, at 13-8, has been one of the best pitchers against the Braves for a long time now. He was 1-1 last season, but gave up only 2 runs in 19 innings pitched. At best, that sugests that tonight will come down to yet another battle of bullpens, and it’s hard to see any Braves fan feeling great about that.

The NCAA’s are over and the Masters doesn’t start for two days. We have meaningful baseball to watch. Enjoy. Or try to, anyway.