The Atlanta Braves are limping towards the finish line and on Tuesday they got some news that’s really not helping their cause.

According to MLB.com’s Mark Bowman, via Twitter, Braves 2B/3B Martin Prado will be done for the season with a hip pointer and torn oblique muscle.

Major League Baseball’s regular season is about to end, and the postseason is about to begin. BetPhoenix has the latest odds for the MLB playoffs, and the odds of each team to win the World Series. Once the playoffs begin, any team can make a run for the World Championship.

Here is a look at the teams in the National League, and their chances to win a World Series.

Top Five Stories From Yesterday

1. The Phillies sweep the Braves out of Philadelphia, increasing their lead in the NL East to six games and reducing their magic number to four.

2. The Padres retake the lead in the NL West after they defeat the Dodgers, and the Giants lose to the Cubs.

3. The Rays get back to within 1.5 games of the Yankees after winning the third game of their big four-game series.

During the 2010 Spring Training, the Atlanta Braves startlingly announced that rookie Jason Heyward would be the starting right fielder on Opening Day. This announcement set the baseball world on fire as not only did Heyward not have any major league experience prior to the 2010 season, but he was also only 20 years old.

Top Five Stories From Yesterday

1. The defending champion Saints get a 37-yard game winning FG from Garrett Hartley to beat San Francisco by three as time expires, but lose star Reggie Bush to a broken leg on Monday Night Football.

2. The Yankees increase their lead over Tampa Bay in the AL East to 1.5 games on a night when New York honored its late owner George Steinbrenner.

Doesn't the photograph of A.J. Burnett say it all?

I think it does (Yankee fans, including myself are used to it). 

Therefore, sit back, relax and enjoy, as you read "AJ Burnett and MLB’s 10 Contending Pitchers Who Do Not Deserve a Playoff Start".

Let's play ball.

The playoffs are around the corner. 

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The Atlanta Braves got on the board early last night, but a two-run fifth inning for the Philadelphia Phillies sunk the Braves, with the Braves losing 3-1.

With only 15 games left in the season for the Atlanta Braves, things are beginning to turn south.  Since the Philadelphia Phillies stole the lead in the NL East on September 12^th, the Braves have fallen 2.5 games behind. 

I have heard some grumblings while riding on the Atlanta Braves' bandwagon about Derek Lowe and his rather tepid performance as a starter since signing his 4 year, $60 million contract. 

However, I tend to disagree.  Although his ERA has been over 4 both of the years he has worn a Braves uniform, he has been an innings eater, has tended to strike batters out well (5.1 K/9 in 2009, and 6.2 K/9 this year), and has usually had a good strikeouts to walks ratio (1.76 in 2009 and 2.09 this year). 

To say that Atlanta Braves fans have been disappointed in him over his first two years would be somewhat of an understatement.

As far as I can remember, the only time we had been completely satisfied with his performance was after his first start with the Braves, when he shut out the Philadelphia Phillies for eight innings on Opening Night last season.