2031-THE RACE IS ON

MIAMI - IT TOOK AN AUGUST SLAP IN THE FACE TO WAKE THE MARLINS UP FOR THEIR SEPTEMBER PLAYOFF RUN.

AND WHAT A SPRINT IT'S BEEN.

FLORIDA HAS BASHED ITS WAY TO FIRST PLACE IN THE NL EAST AND IS GUARANTEED AT LEAST A WILD CARD SPOT WITH JUST A HANDFUL OF GAMES LEFT IN THE SEASON.

"WE'VE SCUFFLED ALL SEASON," SAID LEFTFIELDER AARON CONNER. "WE WERE WITHIN FOUR OR FIVE GAMES UP UNTIL THE END OF AUGUST."

A DOWN STREAK SPIRALED THE MARLINS TO MORE THAN 7 GAMES BACK - BUT FLORIDA THEN WOKE UP IN SEPTEMBER, GOING ON A 22-4 RUN.

CONNER HAS BEEN STUCK AT 24 HOME RUNS FOR SOME TIME NOW - MEANING HE WON'T BREAK THE ALL-TIME HOME RUN MARK THIS SEASON.

NL EAST STANDINGS
9-20-31

ATL   86-65  ---
PHI    85-65  .5
FLA   85-66   1

WILD CARD
PHIL  ---
FLA    .5
STL    1.5
ARI    4.5

SEPT 19 RESULTS 
NYM 7 ATL 6
FLA 9 WAS 2
PHIL 8 MIL 7
CIN 7 STL 4

SCHEDULE
SEPT 20
NYM 5  ATL 4
FLA  13  WAS 5
MIL 3  PHIL 2
CIN 6 STL 8

21
NYM  1 ATL  11
FLA  3 WAS 0
MIL 5 PHI 7
CIN  1  STL  3

22
ATL 8  FLA  11
MIL 6 PHI 2
CHI 3 STL 1

23
ATL 2 FLA 4
WAS 7 PHI 8
CHI  10 STL 7

24
ATL  6 FLA 2
WAS  6 PHI 4
CHI  1 STL 2

25
ATL OFF
FLA OFF
WAS 5 PHI 0
STL OFF

26
ATL  2 WAS  9
FLA 10 CIN 2
PHI 7 NYM 3
STL  5 HOU 6

27
ATL  9 WAS 0
FLA  2  CIN 5
PHI 4 NYM 8
STL 5 HOU  2

28
ATL 5 WAS 3
FLA 9 CIN 6
PHI 1  NYM 4
STL 0 HOU 4

NL EAST
FLA  92-67  ---
ATL  90-69  2
PHI   88-71  4

NL WILD CARD
ATL  ---
PHI   2
STL   2

29
PHI  14 ATL 7
WAS 2 FLA 3
STL  7  NYM 4

30
PHIL 2 ATL 3
WAS 0 FLA 3
STL  4 NYM  1

OCT 1
PHIL 8  ATL 7
WAS 8  FLA 14
STL   3 NYM 1

OCT. 2 ONE-GAME WILD CARD PLAYOFF

STL 10  ATL  11

BRAVES SCORED FOUR RUNS IN BOTTOM OF NINTH TO WIN.

              1 2 3  4 5 6  7 8 9   R  H  E
STL       2 0 0  1 4 0  0 3 0   10 12 1
ATL      0 1 4  1 1 0  0 0 4   11 13 3