The Atlanta Braves continue to make a run at the postseason as they stretched their division lead following a victory over the Tampa Bay Rays.

Coming into the season, many experts picked the Nationals to easily win the National League East.

Many thought the Braves and the Philadelphia Phillies were going to be too young to make much noise this season.

Fast-foward to late August and the Nationals are hoovering around .500 and the Phillies and Braves are battling for the top spot in the East.

Entering play on Wednesday, the Braves hold a 4.5 game lead over the Phillies and are eight games ahead of the Nationals.

The Phillies and Braves had been neck-and-neck until a 2-8 streak over the last 10 games has caused the Phillies to fall out of first place.

The Braves are 6-4 over the last 10 games.

On Tuesday, the Braves continued their strong with a 9-5 win over the red-hot Rays, who had won eight straight coming into Tuesday’s game.

The Braves have three more games left this month before entering the crucial month of September.

During September, the Braves play three games against the Boston Red Sox who are on pace to shatter the MLB win record of 116 wins in a season.

The Braves then play a four-game set against the Arizona Diamondbacks who are currently in first place in the NL West.

Atlanta also plays a three-game set against the St. Louis Cardinals who are in second place in the NL Central and just 4.5 games behind the Chicago Cubs.

The Braves then play the Phillies seven times over the last 10 games of the season.

That series could easily decide who wins the NL East and who will be hoping to get into the NL Wildcard game.

The young talent that Braves have mixed with the veteran players like Freddie Freeman, Nick Markaksi and Julio Teahran have helped the Braves exeed intial expectations for the 2018 season.