The Braves beat the Mets 5-3 on Sunday night to take a commanding two game lead in the NL East and win the season series with New York for the tie-breaker. That means the Braves need to win just one more game, or have the lose, for Atlanta to win the NL East and a first round bye.

The Braves out-homered the Mets 7-3 in the series, and their ability to hit the long ball gives them an advantage in series in which they face excellent starting pitching. If the Braves can match those starters, as they did in this series, then the home runs can make the difference. When base runners are scarce, the long ball puts runs on the board without a long offensive series. The Braves will be tough in the post-season again.