The Mets led the National League East by 10 ½ games at the end of May. The Braves briefly nudged ahead of them Friday night. This has not been a vintage Mets collapse, though. They’ve been good since their hot start. It’s just that the Braves have been better than any NL team since New York had that big lead.
The Braves and Mets are set to fight until the finish. New York has 20 games left; the Braves have 21. The teams will play each other three times on the weekend of Sept. 30. The stakes aren’t do-or-die. Both teams will make the postseason. But winning the division means a bye to a Division Series and avoiding a potential meeting with the Dodgers until the NL Championship Series.
The Braves have no reason to fear the Dodgers. They bested them on the way to winning it all in October. Still, it’s better to take the path with shorter odds if it can be helped. Outkicking the Mets over the final three weeks is the way the Braves can do that. It could come down to which team is healthier, which tends to be the case at this time of year.
