NL Wild Card Standings: Mets loss showed their weakness, Braves win flashed their brawn

A 9-5 loss for the New York Mets on Tuesday helped push them down a game because the Atlanta Braves managed to win their game against the NL East leading Philadelphia Phillies. For as much as the Phillies have been laughed at for their second-half performance, their August record is almost equal that of the Mets. They’re 8-9. We’re 8-10.

It’s easy to see how it happened. A two-run home run off the bat of Anthony Santander in the first set the tone of the game. It was going to be one of those nights for Jose Quintana.

Down in Atlanta, Reynaldo Lopez tossed just 5 innings for the Braves but walked one, allowed a single earned run, and struck out 10 Phillies batters. The dichotomy between the two starting pitchers couldn’t have been much different as Quintana limped through his appearance and Lopez punched through his.

The Mets are repositioned to fall behind teams in the NL Wild Card standings

It’s not just the Braves the Mets need to concern themselves with. Several teams behind them are making up ground. Notably, the San Francisco Giants who curiously bought and sold at the trade deadline get to play the Chicago White Sox again on Wednesday. They’ve won 3 straight and are only a game behind the Mets and trail the Braves by 3.5 games.

Here's what the standings look like heading heading into action on 8/21/2024:

San Diego Padres 72-55 +4
Arizona Diamondbacks 71-56 +3
Atlanta Braves 67-58
New York Mets 65-61 2.5 GB
San Francisco Giants 65-63 3.5 GB
Chicago Cubs 62-64 5.5 GB

The Mets are in the difficult leg of their August schedule. Up against the mighty Baltimore Orioles for one more, they’ll need to travel out west to play four against the smoking hot San Diego Padres and three versus the Arizona Diamondbacks after. Each of them have won 2 in a row, furthering the distance between them and the Mets.

Most of us have conceded the third Wild Card spot is all that is available. Giants are right there. Don’t sleep on the Chicago Cubs either. Now trailing the Mets by only 3 games, they have one of MLB’s softest remaining schedules. And if this becomes a battle of pitching down the stretch, they are a threat.