The Braves still have a 1 game lead over the St. Louis Cardinals for the N.L. Wild Card spot in the playoffs with 2 games to play. The Braves are sending veteran righty Derek Lowe (9-16, 4.92) against the Phillies and righty Roy Oswalt (8-10, 3.86) tonight, which probably favors the Phillies. The Phillies will start veteran righty Joe Blanton (1-2, 5.03) for tomorrow’s game while the Braves are going with righty Tim Hudson (16-10, 3.23). The Phillies have been playing to win every game despite already having homefield advantage through the N.L. playoffs sewn up, so this isn’t going to be easy for the Braves as they can’t depend on the Astros helping them out by beating the Cardinals. Righty Henry Sosa (3-5, 4.68) is going for the Astros tonight against veteran righty Jake Westbrook (12-9, 4.48), which favors the Cardinals. Tomorrow in the regular season finale, righty Brett Myers (7-13, 4.31) will be taking out righty Chris Carpenter (10-9, 3.59). The Braves are going to have to knock off the Phillies to make it to the playoffs, plain and simple.

The Atlanta Braves finished the first half of the season with a 54-38 record which has them in second place in the N.L. East, 3.5 games behind the Phillies. The Braves are leading the race for the N.L. Wild Card by five games over the Diamondbacks, Cardinals and Brewers. The Braves will be likely looking to deal for some hitting late this month. Here is a look at the players who made the biggest impact for the Braves in the first half:

Team MVP: 25-year old righty starting pitcher Jair Jurrjens has been outstanding for the Braves so far this year. He has pitched in 16 games (all starts) for the Braves so far this year and he is 12-3 with a 1.87 ERA and a 1.07 WHIP. Jurrjens has only given up 93 hits in his first 110 2/3 innings so far this year while only walking 25 batters, which is pretty impressive. Jurrjens is pitching to contact as he has only whiffed 65 batters so far this year, which makes his overall numbers that more impressive.

Biggest Surprise: The Braves turned over 1B to 21-year old lefty swinging rookie Freddie Freeman but they weren’t sure what kind of production they were going to get out of him. But, Freeman has been very solid for the Braves with both the bat and the mitt. Freeman has played in 88 games for the Braves so far this year and he is 86 for 314 (.274 avg, .805 OPS) with 39 runs scored, 13 homers, 43 RBIs and 2 stolen bases. The Braves hope he keeps up the good work with the bat because they need all of the offensive help they can get.

Biggest Disappointment: When the Braves traded for 31-year old righty swinging 2B Dan Uggla, they were expecting him to add a lot of power to the team while hitting at least .260. Uggla has come nowhere near those expectations in the first half of the 2011 season. Uggla has played in 92 games for the Braves so far this year and he is 63 for 340 (.185 avg, .621 OPS) with 43 runs scored, 15 homers, 34 RBIs and 1 stolen base. The Braves need Uggla to be the player he was with the Marlins in the second half of the 2011 season.

The Atlanta Braves have gotten off to a good start in 2011. They won two out of three games against the Nationals as they outscored them 16-8. The Braves’ pitching was outstanding and they got more than enough hitting to help them over the weekend. The Braves need to keep playing well because the Phillies are going to be very tough to keep up with this year due to their amazing starting rotation.

The Atlanta Braves are 52-36 on the season which has them in first place in the N.L. East, 4 games ahead of the Mets and 4.5 games ahead of the Phillies. The Braves’ success hasn’t been without problems. Here’s a closer look at the surprises and disappointments of the first half of the 2010 season:

Pleasant Surprises: The Braves finally gave 26-year old righty swinging Martin Prado the starting job at 2B. He made the All-Star team and started last night in the place of Chase Utley. Prado has played in 87 games for the Braves this season and he is 121 of 372 (.325 avg, .851 OPS) with 61 runs scored, 10 homers, 39 RBIs and 4 stolen bases. Troy Glaus missed most of last season so the Braves took a chance on him and he has rewarded them for it. Glaus has played in 85 games for the Braves this season and he is 75 of 295 (.254 avg, .802 OPS) with 43 runs scored, 14 homers and 58 RBIs. 28-year old righty swinging infielder Omar Infante made the All-Star Team despite being a backup player. Infante has played in 63 games for the Braves this year and he is 64 of 193 (.332 avg, .762 OPS) with 26 runs scored, 2 homers, 24 RBIs and 3 stolen bases. Rookie 25-year old lefty reliever Jonny Venters has burst onto the scene for the Braves this year. He has pitched in 36 games (0 starts) for the Braves this year and he is 3-0 with 1 save, a 1.30 ERA and a 1.10 WHIP.

Disappointments: 27-year old righty swinging shortstop Yunel Escobar is having by far the worst season of his major league career in 2010. Escobar has played in 75 games for the Braves so far this year and he is 62 of 261 (.238 avg, .618 OPS) with 28 runs scored, 0 homers, 19 RBIs and 5 stolen bases. 25-year old switch hitting OF Melky Cabrera has had trouble adjusting to N.L. pitching so far this season. He has played in 85 games for the Braves this year and he is 70 of 270 (.259 avg, .664 OPS) with 29 runs scored, 3 homers, 24 RBIs and 4 stolen bases. 28-year old lefty swinging Nate McLouth has been a huge bust for the Braves this year. He has played in 57 games for the Braves this year and he is 30 of 170 (.176 avg, .577 OPS) with 20 runs scored, 3 homers, 14 RBIs and 4 stolen bases. 35-year old righty starting pitcher Kenshin Kawakami is also having a hard time for the Braves this year. He has started 15 games for the Braves this year and he is 1-9 with a 4.48 ERA and a 1.40 WHIP.

The Braves have three games against the Phillies at home this week before traveling to New York over the weekend for a three game set with the Mets. The Braves are 7-5 on the season which has them in 3rd place in the A.L. East, 1 game behind the Phillies. The Braves have outscored opponents 60-54 this so far this season. The Braves aren’t pitching or hitting as good as they can yet so look out when things start to click for them.