The Morning Meeting: Signs of Life For Mets Shortstop Francisco Lindor

The National League East had mixed results in Wednesday's action

New York Mets shortstop Francisco Lindor hit two home runs against the San Francisco Giants in Wednesday's action / Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports

Mixed Wednesday in the NL East - Atlanta swept the Miami Marlins and the New York Mets whacked the Giants, but Philly and Washington dropped their games for a 3-2 record overall. 

Let's look at what each team did on Wednesday, 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 25th)
Braves - 17-6 (.739), -- GB, +44 run diff
Phillies - 15-10 (.600), 3.0 GB, +8 run diff
Mets - 13-11 (.542), 4.5 GB, +10 run diff
Nationals - 10-13 (.435), 7.0 GB, -21 run diff
Marlins - 6-20 (.231), 12.5 GB, -47 run diff

Game recaps from Wednesday

Atlanta Braves vs Miami Marlins

Atlanta looked to be cruising to another easy win until Miami scored two runs in the 9th off of closer Raisel Iglesias to send it to extras. But after some great defensive plays to keep Miami off the board, Michael Harris II laced the second pitch he saw into the left-center gap, scoring Ronald Acuña Jr. from second, and the Braves walked off Miami 4-3 for the series sweep. 

Atlanta got yet another dominant performance from a starting pitcher, this time Reynaldo López: seven innings with one run allowed on three hits. Braves starters put up 22.1 innings over the series, answering questions about one of their potential weaknesses early this season.  

Philadelphia Phillies 

Philly dropped a tough one, 7-4, to the Cincinnati Reds. It wasn’t Spencer Turnbull’s fault - he allowed only one run in five innings, with eight punchies - but rather Serathony Dominguez allowing four runs in just 2.3rds of an inning combined with some offensive struggles - cleanup hitter Nick Castellanos went 0-4 an grounded into a double play.

Alec Bohm (4-4, 2 RBIs) and Trea Turner (1-4, 2 Rs) are both hitting over .300 on the season, but with Bryce Harper on the paternity list, Philly started four different players with batting averages under .200 (and Kyle Schwarber’s right above that, at .202), limiting the ceiling of the offense until some of those guys get going.   

New York Mets

The Mets took down the San Francisco Giants 8-2 behind the performance that may finally get Francisco Lindor going - he went 4-5, hitting two homers and driving in four runs. Brought his batting average up to a whopping .206...but it’s higher than his 190lb weight, which hasn’t been the case so far this season. 

Sean Manaea did well enough in his start, not allowing any earned runs on four hits, but his inefficiency (four walks and 101 pitches) meant he could only make it through 4.2 innings. But New York’s five pitchers combined for 13 strikeouts (6 by Manaea) and held San Fran to going 0-for-7 with RISP and stranding 11 runners on base.    

Washington Nationals 

This is more like what we expected last week from these two teams, as the Dodgers held Washington to just three hits in their 11-2 blowout win in Nationals Park. Starter Jake Irvin got knocked around - six runs on twelve hits in 4.2 innings - and other than a Nick Senzel homer, the Nats couldn’t get much going against Dodgers starter Landon Knack and two relievers.  

MVP's for Wednesday

Hitter: New York’s Francisco Lindor - 4-5, 2 HRs, 2 Rs, 4 RBIs
Pitcher: Atlanta’s Reynaldo López - 7IP, 3H, 1R, 2BB to 6Ks 

Who's playing today?

Light schedule today, with just two series finales on deck:

Philly (Wheeler) @ CIN (Martinez) - 1:10 PM ET
Washington (Gore) vs LAD (Yamamoto) - 4:05 PM ET

Enjoy the games, everyone.