NL East standings: Diesel-fueled NY Mets up by 4.5, engine light on for the Braves

Another win on Sunday for the New York Mets helped increase their lead over the second-place Philadelphia Phillies by 4.5 games. Philadelphia has fallen hard in the NL East standings with a sweep against them at the hands of the Pittsburgh Pirates over the weekend representing a bit of a rock bottom. Still very much alive in the division and if nothing else a Wild Card contender, the real story within the NL East is how far behind the Atlanta Braves have fallen.

Following their seventh straight loss on Sunday, the mighty Braves are now down to 27-37 on the year. 10 games below even but with lots of baseball left to play, their only hope of playing more than 162 games will come down to a Wild Card berth and that’s if everything goes right for them a lot goes wrong for multiple other teams.

The Mets lead the NL East while the Braves are completely irrelevant in the division

Hardship for the Braves couldn’t be more enjoyable of late. They’re not a miserable team lacking talent. Their run-differential of +3, their projected record would have them closer to the .500 mark. Their recent losses haven’t been kind. A 7-run comeback in the 9th, a walk-off wild pitch, and a walk-off home run all led up to their most recent L.

More enjoyable is the distance the Braves have to make up just to get a Wild Card spot. In the National League, only the Miami Marlins, Pittsburgh Pirates, and Colorado Rockies have worse records. It might not seem it, but they are in the same tier of the former two teams this season. The Rockies can have the bottom shelf all to themselves.

The Mets’ biggest concern within the NL East standings is with the Phillies. A 14-game lead over the Braves allows them breathing room and knowledge they only have one serious contender to be concerned about. 

Amazingly, the Mets are the only team in the NL East with a winning record in their last 10 games. The Washington Nationals at 5-5 and 30-35 on the year have been the second-best club of late. The Phillies, with a 1-9 record in their last 10 have dropped 5 in a row.

On the Mets side of things, it wasn’t just beating up on the Rockies either. They split with the Los Angeles Dodgers on the road in a series where they could have just as easily won all 4 games. Luckily, the rest of the division can’t seem to get out of its own way.