Braves, Phillies to go head to head with division in balance

By NOAH TRISTER
AP Baseball Writer

The Atlanta Braves and Philadelphia Phillies are in an old-fashioned battle for the NL East title, with the wild card looking unlikely for whoever finishes second. They’ll face each other in a three-game series starting Tuesday. Atlanta leads the division by 2 1/2 games, meaning the Phillies will need to take at least two of three in Georgia this week to have much of a chance. Philadelphia was able to hang in the race with five straight victories, but the Phillies finally lost Sunday to a last-place Pittsburgh team. Philadelphia ace Zack Wheeler is expected to start Tuesday night against Atlanta’s Charlie Morton.