The Atlanta Braves swept the New York Mets over the weekend, taking sole possession of first place in the NL East with a two-game cushion.
The Braves, after winning the three games in Atlanta, are now 100-59 on the season, while the Mets are 98-61.
On top of it all, the Braves won the season series 10-9 and hold the tiebreaker in the East.
It was a perfect weekend for the defending World Series champions.
Unless the Mets sweep their early-week series and Atlanta gets swept, the Braves have all but assured making the playoffs as the NL East champions and, with it, the first-round bye in the postseason.
Mets manager Buck Showalter tried to bring some peace of mind and calmness to the Mets’ community.
“Buck Showalter: ‘They pitched a little better than we did and they swung the bats a little bit better. … They beat us one more time than we beat them this year. Our guys are having a good year. It didn’t work for us the last three games,'” Newsday’s Tim Healey tweeted.
Buck Showalter: "They pitched a little better than we did and they swung the bats a little bit better. … They beat us one more time than we beat them this year. Our guys are having a good year. It didn’t work for us the last three games."
— Tim Healey (@timbhealey) October 3, 2022
There Were No Blowouts, But The Braves Were Just Better
Showalter is, in fact, right: none of the games were blowouts.
The Braves just executed better when they needed.
Their starters were much better (they beat Jacob deGrom, Max Scherzer, and Chris Bassitt, and that’s not easy) and the bullpen made some really impressive contributions.
The Braves didn’t even need NL Rookie of the Year favorite Spencer Strider for the series.
Dansby Swanson led the charge for Atlanta’s offense, and the Mets’ hitters looked overmatched for most of the series.
Now, the Mets will likely have to enter play in the Wild Card round while the Braves rest until the Division Series.
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