SAN FRANCISCO — Over the past two nights at Oracle Park, a couple of reasons have been apparent as to why the San Francisco Giants are a cut (or two) above the Braves, and better equipped to make a deep postseason run.
San Francisco’s bullpen is much deeper and better.
The Giants take advantage of mistakes and find a way to win.
That latter point might come across as vague or unsubstantiated if one didn’t watch both late-night games Friday and Saturday. But if you did watch all the way through, you know. Right?
The Giants, the only team that’s scored more of its runs via homers than the Braves for most of this season, showed in Saturday’s 2-0 win that they can also play “small ball,” something for which the Braves have shown neither a proclivity for nor, frankly, much interest in pursuing.
The Braves have their first four-game losing streak since the All-Star break and have dropped 11 of their past 17 games, with every loss in that stretch coming by one or two runs.
It’s time to make a change at closer, but whether manager Brian Snitker will concede that remains to be seen. Will Smith has allowed six homers in his past 18 appearances, and has a 5.19 ERA, .974 opponents’ OPS and four blown saves in 14 chances during that span, the latest homer and blown save coming in the ninth inning of Friday’s 11-inning series-opening loss.
Saturday’s defeat trimmed the Braves’ NL East lead to just one game over
