We swept the Braves and I feel a little better about this team, but I’m not popping champagne yet. It’s been a genuinely frustrating first half — Manny Machado, Jackson Merrill, guys we count on have really struggled — and I’ve been saying all year I thought the bats would wake up. If they don’t make the playoffs, I was wrong. Simple as that.

Bigger than any one series is what MLB just proposed to the union: cutting free agency from a six-year service time requirement down to five years by age 30, bumping the minimum salary up to a million bucks from $750,000, and getting rid of qualifying offers and deferred money. I’ve been asking people in my AA meetings what side they’re on, and most casual fans think ballplayers are the greedy ones — when they’re making maybe 1% of what the owners are making. We’re staring down a possible lockout next year and it’s ugly.

Lost the thread a little tonight because I found out a friend of mine from the recovery community, Mike, passed away out of nowhere — people saw him Saturday morning, and by Sunday night he was gone. He dedicated his life to helping people get sober and had more clean days than almost anybody in the room. Life is precious. Back tomorrow for Frier Friday with Will Wagner before the Dodgers series.