Once again, the New York Mets‘ lead in the NL East has been cut down to a half-game.
The Mets lost again last night to the Chicago Cubs, while the defending World Series champion Atlanta Braves defeated the San Francisco Giants.
The two teams are locked in a dead heat and the race for the NL East title looks to be coming right down to the wire.
For now, the Mets remain at the top, but the Braves are nipping at their heels.
After last night’s loss, Buck Showalter, the manager of the Mets, talked about the reality of staying on top, citing that it’s sometimes hard to finish a good season strong because you can see the finish line, but that sometimes teams can put a little bit of extra pressure on themselves to get it done.
Buck Showalter: "Finishing off a good season is really challenging. You see the finish line. You’re trying to get there. You sometimes get away from the things that got you there."
— Anthony DiComo (@AnthonyDiComo) September 14, 2022
Mets Trying To Hold Off Braves
The Mets once led the NL East by 10 games.
For a brief moment over the weekend, the Braves had the lead in the NL East.
New York has since returned to the top, but Atlanta is breathing down their necks.
So naturally, when a team is having a good season and sees the finish line, it’s sometimes hard to finish the job because of the extra pressure teams put on themselves to actually get the job done and how it can turn out to be a bit of a distraction, especially when another team is so close.
That’s the case right now for the Mets, as Showalter alluded to.
The race for the NL East is likely going to come down to the last couple of games, if not the last day on the schedule.
This is certainly one worth watching.
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