The Morning Meeting: A Lot of Close Calls in the National League East Last Night

Several NL East teams came close to doing the dang thing last night

New York Mets starting pitcher Sean Manaea delivers a pitch against the Detroit Tigers. / John Jones-USA TODAY Sports

Boy, that was fun. There were a lot of close calls in the National League East last night, with two games going to extras and the New York Mets on no-hitter watch through 5.2 innings of Sean Manaea's debut with the team.

Let's look at what each team did yesterday, where they currently stand in the division as of this morning, and what today's game has in store. It's the Morning Meeting!

Who is winning the National League East right now?

(divisional standings as of April 2nd)
Braves - 3-1 (.750), -- GB, +22 run diff
Phillies - 1-3 (.250), 2.0 GB, - 16 run diff
Nationals - 1-3 (.250), 2.0 GB, -10 run diff
Mets - 0-3 (.000), 2.5 GB, - 6 run diff
Marlins - 0-5 (.000), 3.5 GB, - 7 run diff

Game recaps from yesterday

Atlanta Braves

The Braves sent old man Charlie Morton to the mound for his season debut against the Chicago White Sox and, in spite of the protestations of Father Time, Morton delivered with 5.2 innings of scoreless baseball, striking out six. He was a little shaky in the first inning, loading the bases, but got out of it and allowed only three baserunners the rest of the way.

The game was called after it entered the 2nd rain delay of the day after the 8th inning, with Atlanta already up 9-0 and every Braves regular having gotten a hit. The big question for Atlanta from here will be if they even get to finish this series as scheduled - it's a night game on Tuesday followed by a day game on Wednesday, but the forecast has cold, wind, and rain for the next two days in Chicago (with a little snow possible on Wednesday.).

Philadelphia Phillies

Philly dropped a heartbreaker in extras to the Cincinnati Reds, losing 6-3. Spencer Steer launched a grand slam in the 10th inning to put Cincy up big, but Philly could only score one to counter and they went quietly to fall to 1-3 on the season. Trea Turner and Kyle Schwarber both finished 2-4 with a run scored, while Christopher Sánchez gave Philly five innings with only two runs allowed, striking out eight in the no-decision.

The story here has to continue being the inability of Bryce Harper to get going. Finishing this game 0-5, he's hitless on the season and still doesn't look quite right after taking a tumble over the dugout railing on Saturday, a fall which he admitted had him feeling "sore" on Sunday.

Washington Nationals

Washington had no answers on offense for Pirates starter Marco Gonzales, logging only one run on four hits against him in his five innings as Pittsburgh ended up winning 8-4 in Nationals Park. Trea Lipscomb continued his heater since being called up over the weekend, going 2-4 with a run scored, while CJ Abrams went 2-5 with a RBI.

Mackenzie Gore actually gave Washington a fighter's chance, going 5.1 innings with three runs on five hits and striking out six, but multiple relievers all gave up runs behind him and Pittsburgh ran away with this one late.

New York Mets

Hello, Sean Manaea. The free agent signing made waves when he cut his signature locks this offseason, and made more waves with his New York debut last night - 6 scoreless innings with one hit allowed, that coming on the final batter he faced to close the 6th inning. Striking out eight and walking two, Manaea showed the Mets that he's capable of carrying some of the load in the rotation while the Mets wait for Kodai Senga's shoulder issue to heal so they can get him back for the second half.

Believe it or not, this one was scoreless until extras when free agent signee (and Braves sleeper agent) Michael Tonkin allowed Detroit to score five runs, all unearned, on only two hits in the 10th inning to give the Tigers the 5-0 win in Citi Field. (All five were unearned because of the ghost runner and a defensive error extending the inning).

If we're going to talk about Bryce Harper not having a hit yet, it's worth noting that both Francisco Lindor and Brandon Nimmo are 1-16 on the 2024 season so far, while Jeff McNeil is 1-12. Not great!

Miami Marlins

For the first time in franchise history, Miami's 0-5 after they let the Los Angeles Angels score seven unanswered runs to secure the 7-4 win in the series opener. The worst part of this is that they've held a lead at the midway point or later in three of their five games, a stunning reversal from 2023's close and late-game luck.

(Miami went 33-14 in one-run games and 7-3 in extra innings in 2023.)

The Marlins are a flawed team - they've overused their bullpen over the first five games to the point where they've already had to call up relievers from AAA (twice), in addition to also hitting into ten double plays in five games, hitting only three home runs, and watching their two catchers combine for exactly zero hits on the season.

But, the strength of this team has always been pitching, and not only does Jesús Luzardo take the mound tomorrow, but Edward Cabrera (made a rehab start in Jacksonville on Sunday) and Braxton Garrett (scheduled for a three inning sim game on Tuesday) are inching closer to a return.

MVP's for Monday

Hitter: Atlanta's Austin Riley - 2-4, HR, 2R, 4 RBI
Pitcher: New York's Sean Manaea - 6.0 IP, 1H, 0R, 2BB to 8Ks

Who's playing today?

Almost the entire division's back in action today, with the Nationals off and everyone else playing at home except for Atlanta, who has their home opener this Friday against Arizona.

Philadelphia (Turnbull) vs CIN (Ashcraft), 6:40 PM
Miami (Luzardo) vs LAA (Anderson), 6:40 PM
New York (Houser) vs DET (Mize), 7:10 PM
Atlanta (López) @ CWS (Crochet), 7:40 PM
Washington - OFF

Enjoy the games, everyone.