The Braves are going home tomorrow. They lost an epic 4-3 game to the Phillies in 13 innings, while the Cardinals wiped out the Astros 8-0. Michael Bourn was solid at the top of the lineup in this game for the Braves as he was 3 for 5 with 1 run scored and 2 stolen bases. Dan Uggla went 1 for 4 with 1 run scored, 1 homer and 2 RBIs last night. The Braves were winning this game 3-2 going into the 9th inning, but closer Craig Kimbrel blew the lead as he worked 2/3 of an inning in which he walked 3 batters, gave up 1 hit and 1 earned run while whiffing 1 batter. Kris Medlen, Anthony Varvaro and Christhian Martinez combined to work 3 1/3 scoreless innings for the Braves. Scott Linebrink then gave up 1 earned run on 1 hit and 2 walks in the 13th inning to earn the loss. He finishes 4-4 on the year for the Braves. This was a big choke for the Braves who blew a big lead in September as far as the Wild Card was concerned.

The Atlanta Braves go into tonight’s game with the Phillies, tied for the N.L. Wild Card with an 89-72 record. If both teams win or lose tonight, they will have a 1-game playoff in St. Louis tomorrow night. The Braves will have 36-year old righty Tim Hudson starting tonight against 30-year old righty Joe Blanton of the Phillies. Hudson has pitched in 32 games (all starts) for the Braves so far this year and he is 16-10 with a 3.23 ERA and a 1.14 WHIP. He has a 1-1 record with a 3.48 ERA and a 1.31 WHIP against the Phillies so far this year. Hudson has had some issues with a trio of Phillies’ hitters in his career so far. 1B Ryan Howard is 15 for 49 (.306 avg, 1.111 OPS) with 1 double, 6 homers and 13 RBIs in his career against Hudson. Maybe Charlie Manuel will give Howard the night off to rest his foot which has been barking as of late. Lefty swinging veteran outfielder Raul Ibanez is 17 for 58 (.290 avg, .780 OPS) with 5 doubles, 1 homer and 7 RBIs against Hudson in his career. Righty swinging outfielder John Mayberry has been downright nasty against Hudson as he is 2 for 3 with 2 homers and 4 RBIs. He is a virtual lock to be in the lineup for the Phillies tonight.

30-year old righty Joe Blanton has pitched in 10 games (7 starts) so far this year for the Phillies and he is 1-2 with a 5.03 ERA and a 1.47 WHIP. Blanton missed most of this year due to injury as he has just returned from the D.L. in September. He has pitched in 4 games (0 starts) so far this month and he is 0-0 with a 1.80 ERA and a 0.80 WHIP. The Braves have a lot of hitters with success against Blanton in their careers. Martin Prado has really raked against him as he is 7 for 19 (.368 avg) with 3 homers and 4 RBIs in his career against Blanton. Chipper Jones is 7 for 20 (.350 avg) with 1 double, 1 homer and 3 RBIs against Blanton. Brian McCann has also had a lot of success against Blanton as he is 8 for 20 (.400 avg) with 2 homers and 6 RBIs against him. Finally, Michael Bourn is 3 for 6 (.500 avg) 3 stolen bases against Blanton.

The numbers look good for the Braves in this game, but it won’t be played on paper.

The Braves still have a 1 game lead over the St. Louis Cardinals for the N.L. Wild Card spot in the playoffs with 2 games to play. The Braves are sending veteran righty Derek Lowe (9-16, 4.92) against the Phillies and righty Roy Oswalt (8-10, 3.86) tonight, which probably favors the Phillies. The Phillies will start veteran righty Joe Blanton (1-2, 5.03) for tomorrow’s game while the Braves are going with righty Tim Hudson (16-10, 3.23). The Phillies have been playing to win every game despite already having homefield advantage through the N.L. playoffs sewn up, so this isn’t going to be easy for the Braves as they can’t depend on the Astros helping them out by beating the Cardinals. Righty Henry Sosa (3-5, 4.68) is going for the Astros tonight against veteran righty Jake Westbrook (12-9, 4.48), which favors the Cardinals. Tomorrow in the regular season finale, righty Brett Myers (7-13, 4.31) will be taking out righty Chris Carpenter (10-9, 3.59). The Braves are going to have to knock off the Phillies to make it to the playoffs, plain and simple.

22-year old righty rookie starting pitcher Randall Delgado is off to a very impressive start to his major league career with the Braves. He pitched in 7 games (all starts) for the Braves this year and he is 1-1 with a 2.83 ERA and a 1.23 WHIP. Delgado also pitched in 25 games (all starts) in AA+AAA-ball this year for the Braves and he was 7-7 with a 3.88 ERA and a 1.38 WHIP. He came into this season as the Braves’ #3 prospect according to Baseball America and you can see why.

32-year old righty reliever missed most of this year due to back surgery, but shortly after coming back he has torn his right rotator cuff and labrum. He will likely miss most, if not all of the 2012 season. Moylan pitched in 13 games (0 starts) for the Braves this year and he was 2-1 with a 3.24 ERA and a 1.80 WHIP. He has now pitched in 287 games (0 starts) in his first six years with the Braves and he is 19-9 with 3 saves, a 2.60 ERA and a 1.29 WHIP. The Braves are loaded in the pen but they will miss Moylan as he gave them a different look as he was a sidearmer.

The Braves have dealt 23-year old righty reliever Eliecer Cardenas to the Pirates to complete the trade in which Atlanta acquired Matt Diaz. Cardenas pitched in 45 games (0 starts) in A+AA-ball for the Braves this year and he was 4-3 with 7 saves, a 2.11 ERA and a 1.36 WHIP. He only gave up 46 hits in 59 2/3 innings while whiffing 76 batters, so he has a decent upside. The Braves are so loaded in the pen though that they won’t miss Cardenas going forward.

31-year old righty swinging 2B Dan Uggla has played in 21 games so far this September and he is 17 for 73 (.233 avg, .808 OPS) with 13 runs scored, 5 homers and 10 RBIs. The Braves need Uggla to not only hit for power but to juice up his batting average in the next week and a half, which would go a long way towards helping them win the Wild Card in the N.L. Uggla has now played in 154 games for the Braves this year and he is 133 for 572 (.233 avg, .763 OPS) with 85 runs scored, 35 homers, 78 RBIs and 1 stolen base.

25-year old righty starting pitcher Brandon Beachy has really turned in a solid rookie season for the Braves. He has pitched in 23 games (all starts) for the Braves so far this year and he is 7-2 with a 3.43 ERA and a 1.16 WHIP. Beachy has only given up 115 hits in his first 131 1/3 innings this year while whiffing 152 batters and walking only 37 of them. Beachy has now pitched in 26 games (all starts) in his first two years in the majors and he is 7-4 with a 3.38 ERA and a 1.20 WHIP. He looks like he’s going to be a fixture in the Braves’ rotation for a long, long time.

34-year old righty swinging shortstop Alex Gonzalez is an asset to the Braves in the field with his mitt, but they need him to start helping out with the bat. He has played in 139 games for the Braves so far this year and he is 121 of 531 (.228 avg, .600 OPS) with 53 runs scored, 12 homers, 48 RBIs and 2 stolen bases. Gonzalez still has decent random power for a shortstop but he also has no patience at the plate. He has whiffed 118 times already this year while only walking 22 times. It’s hard to have success when your swinging for the fences while swinging at everything at the same time.

27-year old lefty swinging Brian McCann and 34-year old righty swinging David Ross have continued to swing good bats for the Braves this year. McCann has played in 114 games for the Braves so far this year and he is 115 of 415 (.277 avg, .840 OPS) with 49 runs scored, 23 homers, 66 RBIs and 3 stolen bases. He is one of the very best catchers in all of baseball. Whenever McCann has needed a break, David Ross has stepped right in and performed well. Ross has played in 48 games for the Braves so far this year and he is 38 for 144 (.264 avg, .771 OPS) with 14 runs scored, 6 homers and 23 RBIs. The Braves almost always seem to have an advantage behind the plate when they take the field as McCann & Ross are good hitters and they handle the pitching staff really well.