Important Stretch

Friday begins a very important stretch for Atlanta. After having five off days in April, the Braves will play 43 games in 45 days. The only off days will be May 14 and June 1.
With such a long stretch facing the Braves, the following are three things they must do in order to stay afloat in the division and the wild card race.

1. Get and Stay Healthy: It will be key for left fielder Garrett Anderson and catcher Brian McCann (left) to get back from various ailments.
Anderson is out with a quad injury and needs to hurry back since Matt Diaz has proven to be only a platoon player.
Meanwhile, McCann is suffering from blurry vision in his left eye. Backup catcher David Ross has done a solid job, but McCann is vitally important to protect Chipper Jones in the lineup while providing some home run power.
Moreover, Jones has to stay healthy and not bruise his hand again. The lineup just isn't the same without him.

2. Strong Starting Pitching: The rotation has been exceptionally strong. That has to continue since the lineup won't consistently put up runs. Derek Lowe and Javier Vazquez have both been solid with ERAs in the low 3s.
Jair Jurrjens (right), however, has been outstanding. His 1.72 ERA ranks fifth in all of MLB.

At the backend, Jo-Jo Reyes has the ability to be good and showed it in his last start against St. Louis. He gave up one run and three hits in seven innings. Japanese import Kenshin Kawakami has struggled (7.06 ERA) and is currently battling shoulder fatigue. Both Reyes and Kawakami just need to keep their ERAs around 4.

3. Stay Aggressive: Though it ended in a loss, Wednesday's game against the Cardinals showed Atlanta could be aggressive on the basepaths. In the first three innings, the Braves had two hit-and-runs along with a steal from Jordan Schafer.

Also, Jeff Francoeur (left) scored on a wild pitch that didn't get too far away from the plate.

That kind of aggressiveness needs to continue if the Braves are going to cover up some obvious weaknesses in the lineup.