Standings
1st. New York Mets- 47-27
2nd. Atlanta Braves- 42-32 (5 GB)
3rd. Philadelphia Phillies- 39-35 (8 GB)
4th. Miami Marlins- 33-38 (12.5 GB)
5th. Washington Nationals- 27-48 (20.5)
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Recap
New York Mets
The Mets started their week by dropping both games of a two-game series on the road in Houston. Carlos Carrasco was roughed up in game two, as the Mets starter was charged with 5 earned runs on four hits in just 2.1 innings pitched. Carrasco allowed three total home runs including back-to-back shots to Alex Bregman and Yordan Alvarez in the first inning in a 5-3 loss.Â
New York then rebounded by taking two of three in Miami. Both games were won with identical 5-3 scores with two home runs from the Mets. However, the second game’s homers came from one man. Pete Alonso homered twice in game two for his 14th career multi-home run game. Alonso now leads all of MLB in RBIs with 69 in 73 games and leads the NL in home runs with 22.Â
Upcoming games- Two at home with the Astros followed by three at home with the Rangers
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Atlanta Braves
The Braves took three of four from the Giants at home to begin a busy week. Dansby Swanson homered twice in Thursday’s 7-6 win. The first was a leadoff shot while the second capped off a five run second inning for Atlanta. Swanson is now hitting .304 with an .871 OPS and 13 home runs in his final year under contract.Â
Atlanta then dropped two of three to the Dodgers in a series that featured an NLCS rematch and the return of former Braves MVP Freddie Freeman to Atlanta. They managed to take the second game of the series by a final score of 5-3 thanks to a two-run home run by Marcell Ozuna that broke a 3-3 tie in the eighth inning. Freeman meanwhile went 4-12 in the series with an RBI and two runs scored.
Upcoming games- Three in Philadelphia followed by three in Cincinnati
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Philadelphia Phillies
The Phillies dropped both games of a quick two game series in Texas with the Rangers to start their week. They struggled with runners in scoring position in the series, finishing 0-12. Philadelphia was shut out in the first game 7-0 behind six scoreless innings from Martin Perez and three perfect innings from the Rangers bullpen.Â
Philadelphia rebounded by taking three of four from the Padres in San Diego over the weekend, albeit with a heavy cost. Reigning MVP Bryce Harper suffered a broken thumb in Saturday’s game after being hit by a 97 MPH Blake Snell fastball. The Phillies went on to avenge their comrade by winning the game 4-2. J.T. Realmuto clubbed his first home run since May 26th to open the scoring the next inning after Harper’s injury.  Â
Upcoming games- Three at home with the Braves followed by three with the Cardinals
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Miami Marlins
The Marlins swept a three-game series with the Rockies to begin the week. They finished off the sweep with a 3-2 win on Thursday thanks to an RBI groundout by Avisail Garcia in the bottom of the eighth that broke a 2-2 tie. The Miami bullpen threw 4.1 scoreless with just three hits and three walks after starter Braxton Garrett exited after 4.2 innings.Â
Miami was only able to salvage the final game of a three-game series with the Mets over the weekend. They won 3-2 on Sunday to avoid the sweep thanks to a walk-off home run from Nick Fortes. The 25-year-old catcher has only played 13 games this year but is hitting .289 with an OPS of .965.
Upcoming games- Three in St. Louis followed by four in Washington with the Nats
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Washington Nationals
The Nats traded shutouts in a quick two game series with beltway rivals the Orioles to start their schedule. The winning half for the Nats was a 3-0 shutout fueled by six innings from Eric Fedde. Fedde allowed just two hits and a walk with four strikeouts in the contest. The three relievers that followed him allowed just two more hits the rest of the way with 6 strikeouts.
Washington then took two of three from the Rangers on the road. They secured the series victory with a 6-4 win on Sunday that featured three runs in each of the first two innings from the offense. Nelson Cruz led the way with a pair of singles that drove in a total of three runs. The 41-year-old Cruz now has 43 RBIs in 69 games.
