Standings
1st, New York Mets- 49-30
2nd. Atlanta Braves- 46-34 (3.5 GB)
3rd. Philadelphia Phillies- 42-38 (7.5 GB)
4th. Miami Marlins- 37-40 (11 GB)
5th. Washington Nationals- 29-52 (21 GB)
Â
Recap
New York Mets
The Mets dropped both games of a quick two game series at home with the Astros to start the week. They only managed to score one run total across both games. A Jason Castro ninth inning two-run home run off of Drew Smith was all the offense needed for Houston after eight shutout innings from Justin Verlander.Â
New York rebounded to take two of three from the Rangers at home over the weekend. Eduardo Escobar homered in each game of the series, and his two-run shot in the fourth inning of the rubber match gave the Mets breathing room in a 4-1 win. Escobar now has 9 home runs on the season and matched his total for the entire month of June in this three-game series.Â
Upcoming games- Three in Cincinnati followed by four at home against Miami
Â
Atlanta Braves
The Braves took two of three in Philadelphia to begin their last week of June. Matt Olson homered twice in the opening game of the series, a 5-3 Atlanta win. In seven games against the Phillies this season, Olson is hitting .346 with 7 extra base hits including three home runs despite an uneven season overall.Â
Atlanta then took two of three from the Reds on the road over the holiday weekend. Rookie Spencer Strider tossed another strong start in a 4-1 win on Saturday. Strider went six innings while allowing one run on one hit and a walk with 11 strikeouts. The 23-year-old rookie owns a 2.87 ERA across 18 appearances and 7 starts on the season with a WHIP of 1.01.Â
Upcoming games- Long home stand starting with four with the Cardinals followed by three with the Nats
Â
Philadelphia Phillies
The Phillies dropped two of three to the Braves to start their week. They avoided the sweep with an offensive explosion on Thursday in a 14-4 win. Philadelphia clubbed five total home runs, including two from rookie Darick Hall for his first two MLB hits. Hall has four hits in five games in the big leagues with three of them being home runs.Â
Philadelphia then took two of three from the Cardinals in a crucial series in the Wild Card race. Zack Wheeler delivered seven shutout innings in the rubber match on Sunday night, while Rhys Hoskins homered and scored after a double in a 4-0 win. Hoskins is hitting .310 in his last 30 games with an OPS of 1.090 and nine home runs.Â
Upcoming games- Three at home with the Nats followed by four in St. Louis
Â
Miami Marlins
The Marlins dropped two of three to the Cardinals on the road to complete their June schedule. Sandy Alcantara threw a complete game on Wednesday while allowing three runs on seven hits to allow the offense to rally late. A two-run home run from Avisail Garcia gave Miami the lead in the ninth in an ultimate 4-3 win.Â
Miami then traveled to Washington for four with the Nationals. They earned their first sweep of the season after they won all four games. A two-run home run from Bryan De La Cruz gave Miami the lead in the tenth inning on Monday and Dylan Floro hung on for the save in a 3-2 win.Â
Upcoming games- Two games at home with the Angels followed by four in New York with the Mets
Â
Washington Nationals
The Nats took two of three from the Pirates at home to wrap up June. Maikel Franco clubbed a go-ahead, two-run home run in the bottom of the eighth in Monday’s 3-2 win. Franco’s blast came after an RBI groundout from Yadiel Hernandez put the Nats on the board in the sixth.Â
Washington then played host to Miami for four games over the weekend. They were swept out by Miami. They forced extras in both of the last games, but Washington wasn’t able to hold Washington and scored just one run themselves across both extra innings frames.Â
