The Morning Meeting: The Middle of the NL East All Won Last Night

There's three teams all bunched together in the middle of the NL East standings after Monday night

New York Mets center fielder Brandon Nimmo reacts after hitting his second home run of the game against the Atlanta Braves on Monday night. / Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports

It was an incredibly interesting day in the NL East, with the middle of the division all winning their games while the Atlanta Braves lost a close contest and the Miami Marlins...got blown out again.  

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 9th)
Braves - 6-3 (.667), -- GB, +25 run diff
Phillies - 5-5 (.500), 1.5 GB, -6 run diff
Mets - 4-6 (.400), 2.5 GB, -12 run diff
Nationals - 4-6 (.400), 2.5 GB, -10 run diff
Marlins - 1-10 (.091), 6.0 GB, -32 run diff

Philly’s made it to .500 and have narrowed that run differential down significantly. It’s an interesting middle of the division right now - I think this is the order many were expecting to see these three teams at the end of the season, but I’m incredibly curious to see where everyone ends up at the end of 162 games. I personally still think that the Nationals have a run to be made late in the year when they’re letting the prospects play, while I still have doubts about New York’s ability to hang all season from a pitching perspective. 

Game recaps from yesterday

Atlanta Braves & New York Mets

The Mets took down Atlanta in a one-run game, 8-7, to snap Atlanta’s three game win streak. Kudos to New York’s bullpen, who did what the Arizona Diamondbacks could not and prevented Atlanta from getting that one big hit late to take a lead. The Braves stranded ten runners on base, including four over the final two innings - New York’s bullpen gave up only one run across those frames, despite Atlanta loading the bases in the 8th. 

For New York, Brandon Nimmo finally got going, finishing 4-4 with two homers and 5 RBIs. His average is up all the way to .212 after the onslaught and if New York can get Francisco Lindor, Jeff McNeil, and Pete Alonso to follow, this team will be more competitive going forward.     

Philadelphia Phillies 

Philly took down the St. Louis Cardinals 5-3 in ten innings yesterday on the road, thanks to Trea Turner’s three hits and a key Alec Bohm double in extra innings. Spencer Turnbull’s the big story here - signed to a minor league deal, the righty used his new sweeper to pitch six scoreless innings against the Cardinals with only two hits allowed, walking one and striking out six. While the Phillies still have bullpen issues - Jeff Hoffman gave up two runs in the 9th to let St. Louis send it to extras - having the depth of starting pitching is going to be needed to get through the long season and still have enough starters to make noise in the postseason, and Turnbull looks much improved and like he can give the team meaningful innings over the summer. 

Washington Nationals

Washington went out west and absolutely took it to the Giants in Oracle Park, winning 8-1 late on Monday night. Lane Thomas and prospect Trey Lipscomb were the big performers here, with Thomas going 3-5 with a homer and three RBIs, while Lipscomb went 3-5 with a stolen base from the #8 hole.

Trevor Williams outdueled reigning Cy Young winner Blake Snell, going five innings with one run allowed on three hits, and the bullpen gave the Nats four scoreless innings to put this one away. 

Miami Marlins

Oh Miami. The Marlins got absolutely whacked by the Yankees, 7-0, with New York starter Nestor Cortes pitching eight shutout innings against his childhood team for the easy Yankees win. The Marlins were held to only two hits, both by Bryan De La Cruz, while striking out six times and allowing New York’s corner outfield to run wild - RF Juan Soto, LF Alex Verdugo, and OF/DH Giancarlo Stanton combined to go seven for ten with four runs and four RBIs. 

Opening Day starter Jesus Luzardo, one of Miami’s only reliable starting pitching options this season, took the brunt of it, allowing seven runs on eight hits in just 4.2 innings while walking five.  

MVP's for Wednesday

Hitter: New York’s Brandon Nimmo - 4-4, 2 HR, 2R, 5 RBIs
Pitcher: Philly’s Spencer Turnbull - 6.0 IP, 2H, 0R, 1 BBs to 6 Ks 

Who's playing today?

Everybody’s back in action tonight, kicking off a new series:

Miami (Puk) @ NYY (Rodón) - 7:05 PM ET
New York (Houser) @ Atlanta (López) - 7:20 PM ET
Philly (Wheeler) @ STL (Gray) - 7:45 PM ET
Washington (Gray) @ SFG (Harrison) - 9:45 PM ET

Enjoy the games, everyone.