The NL East is Up for Grabs Tomorrow Night

 The Atlanta Braves have snatched the soul out of the New York Mets.

Again.

For a second straight game, the defending NL East Champions have done what they did last summer and grabbed a victory late; right in the face of the Mets. This time it was aided by great defense. Yes, Michael Harris II hit the eventual game-winning two-run home run against Adam Ottovino in the bottom of the 8th inning, but it was the rally killing, leaping, and game saving catches in back-to-back innings by Ronald Acuna Jr. and Michael Harris II in the 7th and 8th respectively.

Max Scherzer said postgame “It’s easy to beat yourself up... but I thought I did some good things tonight… the line between good and great [with these two teams] is so thin anything can change a ballgame around.” What changed the game around was the lack of depth from the starter and going to either tired or lower leverage arms in key moments. Mets Manager Buck Showalter showed confidence in his sputtering team “our guys will come out and compete again.”

When it comes to the Mets going toe-to-toe with the Braves it feels like it’s a prize fight nearing a TKO. Between the Braves chasing down the Mets and taking the division out of their hands last year to winding the gap in division when the Mets seem to be at their lowest point in the year, Justin Verlander has the division in his hands tomorrow night in Atlanta.

If the Braves sweep the Mets, New York will be 7.5 games back in the division, be two games under .500, and fall to 1-4 against Atlanta with only nine more games against the Braves for the rest of the season. Further, the Mets would be swept in back-to-back series, on a six game losing streak, and roll into Pittsburgh to face perhaps the biggest surprise team in all of baseball this season.

To make matters worse, the Major League Home Run Leader, Pete Alonso left tonight’s game early after being hit on the hand in the first inning. Buck Showalter would not commit to anything with his young superstar’s health status, but if an IL stint is in the near future that could make matters from worst to damning. Alonso for the entire season has been the majority of the Mets offensive output and now an anemic lineup will have to make the best of the 21st ranked team in OPS in baseball.

However, you won’t find much concern in the New York clubhouse as Max Scherzer proclaimed “We’re fine. We’re competing, this is Major League Baseball, this is what happens, [with Verlander going tomorrow] hopefully we go out and win.”

Sometimes competing isn’t good enough. The team with the highest payroll in the sport shouldn’t just be competing in ball games—they should be dominating ball games.

The Atlanta Braves have shown that when they compete against the Mets, they are, and have been the better team. The gap between them might be slim, but in the standings, it’s as wide as the distance between Earth and Pluto.  

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