New York is also playing shorthanded in a way that matters more than the box score suggests. Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton and Cody Bellinger are all out, which strips a middle-of-the-order Yankees lineup down to a shell of itself even while the team is riding a two-game roll.
Atlanta's not exactly whole either. The bullpen is missing Robert Suarez and Reynaldo Lopez, Joe Jimenez has been out since May following knee surgery, and the rotation is still waiting on Spencer Strider and Spencer Schwellenbach, with Strider looking like he might not pitch again this year. Jurickson Profar remains out for the season on suspension. None of that stopped the Braves from steamrolling Miami just days ago.
That's really the tension here. Atlanta looked like the better team for most of the last two weeks and still walks into Sunday having dropped the first two of this series, including a 10th-inning walk-off. Every injury absence on both sides complicates who's actually a step up right now.
A series finale with a division leader trying to avoid a sweep against a fringe contender still has juice, even if it isn't the marquee slate MLB has to offer on a Sunday. Holmes gives Atlanta a real chance to walk out of the Bronx with something to show for the trip.