The Morning Meeting: NL East Standings Narrow a Little After Philly Sweeps San Diego

The National League East saw some interesting results this weekend, including a surge by the Philadelphia Phillies

The Philadelphia Phillies swept the San Diego Padres this weekend to narrow their deficit in the NL East to only 1.5 games. / Orlando Ramirez-USA TODAY Sports

Happy Monday for the NL East - Philly put up a sweep, while Atlanta won two out of three against the AL-Central leading Guardians and Washington’s leading Miami three games to none in their four-game series that wraps up tonight.  

Let's look at what each team did over the weekend, 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 29th)
Braves - 19-7 (.731), -- GB, +47 run diff
Phillies - 19-10 (.655), 1.5 GB, +25 run diff
Mets - 14-13 (.519), 5.5 GB, +7 run diff
Nationals - 13-14 (.481), 6.5 GB, -10 run diff
Marlins - 6-23 (.207), 14.5 GB, -59 run diff

Philly's repaired their run differential and come within spitting distance of Atlanta - the Braves lead is only 1.5 games despite the winning weekend, as Philly's won eleven of the last thirteen games. These two teams don't play each other until early July, but given the wide variance in opponent quality this week, it's possible Philly takes over first place by next Monday. (Philadelphia has the Angels, Giants, and Blue Jays on the docket, while Atlanta has the Mariners, Dodgers, and Red Sox).

Game recaps from last weekend

Atlanta Braves 

The Braves went two for three over the weekend against the AL Central-leading Cleveland Guardians to win the series. Atlanta split the extra innings games on Saturday and Sunday, but it was a relatively low-scoring affair for all three games, with twenty-one runs combined across all three games. 

Don’t look now, but Braves starting pitching has rounded into form. In the six games last week, Atlanta gave up just four runs in 42 innings from the starters, good for a 0.86 ERA. On the season, Atlanta’s 3.72 ERA from the starters is fourth-lowest in the NL. 

Philadelphia Phillies 

Philly swept the Padres this weekend, and once again got some great pitching performances to do it. Aaron Nola and Ranger Suárez both went eight innings in the first two games, while Taijuan Walker stumbled a bit in his first game off the IL (six runs in 6.1 innings) but the offense pitched him up to win a close one. 

Alec Bohm (8-14, HR, 5 RBIs), Brandon Marsh (5-12, HR, 3 RBIs), and J.T., Realmuto (4-13, 2 HRs, 5 RBIs) were the big notable offensive performers of the weekend, while Bryce Harper hit homers on Thursday and Friday in his first games back from paternity leave but was otherwise quiet on the weekend. 

New York Mets

The Mets dropped two out of three to the St. Louis Cardinals at home, only salvaging the weekend with a walkoff homer from Mark Vientos on Sunday afternoon. It was a quiet offensive weekend for many of the regulars, with Pete Alonso and Jeff McNeil combining for only two hits and a run (although Alonso’s one hit was a homer).  

Two of the three Mets starters got blown up, but Jose Quintana continued his surprising 2024 with eight innings of one-run ball, allowing only three hits on Sunday but getting a no-decision as New York didn’t win until the eleventh inning. 

Washington Nationals vs Miami Marlins

Washington went to Miami and swept the Marlins, complete with a big comeback in Sunday’s game three. Youngster Trey Lipscomb was a surprisingly big performer from the offense, going 8-12 over the weekend with five runs scored, while Nick Senzel drove in seven on the weekend thanks to three homers. 

For the Marlins, it’s a story of missed opportunities. After being held mostly in check for the first two games, Miami scored six runs in the first inning of Sunday’s game three and pushed the lead to 7-0 before allowing ten unanswered runs to Washington. It was an exciting game to watch, but just not very good for Miami’s hopes of digging out of the cellar. 

MVP's for the weekend

Hitter: Washington’s Nick Senzel - 3-11, 3 HRs, 4 runs, 7 RBIs
Pitcher (tie): Atlanta’s Charlie Morton - 7IP, 4H, 0R, 1BB to 6Ks and Philly’s Ranger Suarez - 8IP, 3H, 1R, 0BB to 8Ks  

Who's playing today?

A series finale and a few series openers on deck today, including some late start times: 

Washington (Irvin) @ Miami (Rogers) - 6:40 PM ET
CHC (Taillon) @ New York (Severino) - 7:10 PM ET
Philly (Sánchez) @ LAA (Canning) - 9:38 PM ET
Atlanta (Fried) @ SEA (Miller) - 9:40 PM ET

Enjoy the games, everyone.