Braves-Yankees Is the First Series of Teams This Hot in 120 Years

On August 1, the Atlanta Braves were 52-54 and four games back of first place in the NL East, still having yet to cross the .500 mark in 2021. The New York Yankees were a respectable 56-48, but seven games out in the AL East and also on the outside looking in on the AL Wild Card.

In the three weeks since, the two teams are a combined 33-7, with the Braves now owning a five-game lead in the NL East and the Yankees in possession of the first AL Wild Card spot and within spitting distance of the first-place Rays. In less than a month, this series went from one between two teams fighting for their lives to one between the hottest teams to match up since 1901.

As one of my idols Trae Young once famously tweeted, "Your apology needs to be as loud as the disrespect was." And I sincerely apologize to the Atlanta Braves. I certainly did not see this team losing Ronald Acuña Jr. and then reeling off a streak like this, now looking like they're going to run away with the division. But credit where credit is due, Alex Anthopoulos struck gold with just about every trade he made at the deadline and Atlanta's offense looks nearly as lethal again now as it did in 2020.

This is the most excited I can remember being for a regular season series in quite some time. It sucks we're only getting two games — followed by consecutive off days for the Braves, which I have never seen before — but they'll both be appointment television. One team will have its streak snapped tonight while the other's will move to 10 wins in a row.

There are currently a grand total of four unsold tickets for tonight's game excluding general admission, so it's going to be a full house at Truist Park for the interleague series of the year. Should be some great baseball.