Major League Baseball enters the final weekend of April with a full slate of action over the next three days, including a Mexico City showcase between the Padres and Diamondbacks. There's a clash of first-place teams as the Tigers travel to Cincinnati to face the Reds that will serve as an early measuring stick. The Mets, winners of two straight after snapping a 12-game losing streak, have a solid opportunity to keep momentum going with the Rockies coming into the Big Apple. Out on the West Coast, the Cubs will take their red-hot brand of baseball out to Los Angeles to face the defending champion Dodgers.
Meanwhile the Phillies are desperate to snap their own nine-game slide and preparing for what is shaping up to be a very important three-game set against the soaring Braves. With Atlanta already holding a 9.5-game lead in the National League East, this is a golden opportunity for Philadelphia to shave a few games off that deficit. If things go the other way and the losing continues, it will be that much harder to claw back into the playoff picture.
