For the second straight start, Atlanta Braves starting pitcher Mike Minor pitched a gem, which led to a 4-3 victory that completed the sweep over the Oakland A’s. This kind of performance out of Minor gives the Braves confidence moving forward down the stretch run.

Minor went seven innings allowing only two runs on four hits, while walking two and striking out seven. Both of those runs came courtesy of Oakland first baseman Nate Freiman who took Minor deep with solo shots in the 2nd and 7th inning. Aside from that Minor showed a confidence on the mound that he displayed last year leading to a 13-9 record with a 3.21 ERA.

To put the cherry on top of Minor’s great outing, the left-hander outdueled another great left-hander in Jon Lester. Even with his first loss as an Oakland A, Lester pitched a very solid game going six innings allowing four runs on six hits, while walking only one and striking out five. Just like Minor, Lester made some mistakes that led to long balls.

Justin Upton gave the Braves a 3-1 lead in the 4th inning thanks to a 2-run homer to deep left. After the A’s cut the lead to 3-2 in the top of the 7th, the Braves quickly responded in the bottom of the inning with solo blast from Chris Johnson bringing the Braves lead to 4-2.

The A’s didn’t back down as they put pressure on Atlanta in the 8th inning with a leadoff double by Sam Fuld that advanced him to third base due to a fielding error by B.J. Upton. All Oakland could muster up was a sac-fly by Coco Crisp as Atlanta relievers Anthony Varvaro and James Russell kept the Oakland lineup from breaking through.

The Braves took a 4-3 lead into the 9th inning setting the stage for Craig Kimbrel. Kimbrel showed off his dominance recording the A’s in order on nine pitches while striking out two. This brings Kimbrel’s save total to 37 which is tied for 2nd in MLB.

With the three-game sweep of the Oakland A’s, the Braves ended up with a 6-4 record on their 10-game home stand. Considering the way Atlanta has been playing for the better part of a month, winning 6-of-10 against the Washington Nationals, Los Angeles Dodgers and Oakland A’s is a big deal. Those are three of the best teams in all of baseball and to win the majority gives the Braves confidence moving forward down the stretch.

With the Nationals on a 6-game win streak, the Braves weren’t able to gain any ground in the division but with the Pittsburgh Pirates being one of those teams facing the Nationals during their win streak, the Braves are tied with Pittsburgh in the Wild Card and are only 1.5 games behind the San Francisco Giants for the second Wild Card spot.

The Braves head on the road for 10 games and they begin their road trip in Pittsburgh. This might be a great time for the Braves to face Pittsburgh as the Pirates have lost five in a row and are still without their best player in Andrew McCutchen.