One National League East team in free-fall mode was able to stop gravity momentarily on Wednesday night as the Mets rode a gem from Clay Holmes and a clutch two-out go-ahead hit from Mark Vientos in the eighth inning to down the Twins, 3-2. This snapped an incredible and unexpected 12-game slide from the perceived contender while the Phillies found no such luck as they once again suffered a lopsided loss to the Cubs. That's now eight straight times Philadelphia has found itself on the wrong end of the scoreboard. They now find themselves tied with the rival Mets in the cellar at 8-16.
At this early stage of the season each of these teams is 8 1/2 games behind division-leading Atlanta. This is the furthest any club finds itself from where it wants to go. Even the Rockies have kept closer pace with the Dodgers and Padres (tied at 16-8) in the NL West. The lowly Royals (8-17) are only 5.5 games back in the AL Central as no team has seperated from the pack.
It's probably a bit premature to look at history for the largest deficits overcome to win a division but let's do it anyway.
| Team | Year | Deficit | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Guardians | 2025 | 15.5 GB | July 6 |
| Yankees | 1978 | 14 GB | July 19 |
| Athletics | 2012 | 13 GB | June 30 |
| Mariners | 1995 | 13 GB | August 2 |
| Twins | 2006 | 12.5 GB | July 14 |
The takeaway? Lots of teams have been down worse and dug their way out of the hole. And with playoff expansion there are more routes for the Phillies and Mets to explore. Yet with how strong the NL Central has been—with the fifth-place Brewers sitting outside the wild card right now despite being a 5.5 games ahead of the NL East chasers, it's going to require some really, really strong play to ensure any room for error.
One other thing to keep an eye on here is the fact that these two teams don't play each other until June 18. All of their head-to-head work will take place later in the season when they potentially cannot afford any more losses. That's going to ramp up the pressure and seems to suggest that only one can survive in the quest to fight back to contention.
Or strange things can happen and they finish 1-2 in the division. That's baseball.
Yesterday's MLB scores
Marlins 4, Cardinals 1
Astros 2, Guardians 0
Rays 6, Reds 1
Orioles 8, Royals 6
Tigers 5, Brewers 2
Angels 7, Blue Jays 3
Mariners 5, Athletics 4
Braves 8, Nationals 6
Yankees 4, Red Sox 1
Mets 3, Twins 2
Cubs 7, Phillies 2
Pirates 8, Rangers 4
Rockies 8, Padres 3
Diamondbacks 11, White Sox 7
Giants 3, Dodgers
Updated MLB standings
National League East
| Team | Record | Games Behind |
|---|---|---|
| Braves | 17-8 | -- |
| Marlins | 12-13 | 5.0 |
| Nationals | 11-14 | 6.0 |
| Phillies | 8-16 | 8.5 |
| Mets | 8-16 | 8.5 |
National League Central
| Team | Record | Games Behind |
|---|---|---|
| Reds | 16-9 | -- |
| Cubs | 15-9 | 0.5 |
| Pirates | 14-10 | 1.5 |
| Cardinals | 14-10 | 1.5 |
| Brewers | 13-10 | 2.0 |
National League West
| Team | Record | Games Behind |
|---|---|---|
| Padres | 16-8 | -- |
| Dodgers | 16-8 | -- |
| Diamondbacks | 14-10 | 2.0 |
| Giants | 11-13 | 5.0 |
| Rockies | 10-15 | 6.5 |
American League East
| Team | Record | Games Behind |
|---|---|---|
| Yankees | 15-9 | -- |
| Rays | 13-11 | 2.0 |
| Orioles | 12-13 | 3.5 |
| Blue Jays | 10-14 | 4.5 |
| Red Sox | 9-15 | 6.0 |
American League Central
| Team | Record | Games Behind |
|---|---|---|
| Guardians | 14-12 | -- |
| Tigers | 13-12 | 0.5 |
| Twins | 12-12 | 2.0 |
| White Sox | 9-15 | 4.0 |
| Royals | 8-17 | 5.5 |
American League West
| Team | Record | Games Behind |
|---|---|---|
| Athletics | 13-12 | -- |
| Rangers | 12-12 | 0.5 |
| Angels | 12-14 | 1.5 |
| Mariners | 11-15 | 2.5 |
| Astros | 10-16 | 3.5 |
Today's MLB schedule
All times ET
Braves vs. Nationals, 1:05 p.m.
Brewers vs. Tigers, 1:10 p.m.
Phillies vs. Cubs, 2:20 p.m.
Padres vs. Rockies, 3:10 p.m.
White Sox vs. Diamondbacks, 3:40 p.m.
Dodgers vs. Giants, 3:45 p.m.
Yankees vs. Red Sox, 6:10 p.m.
Twins vs. Mets, 7:10 p.m.
Pirates vs. Rangers, 8:05 p.m.
More MLB from Sports Illustrated
- SI:AM | White Sox Rookie Munetaka Murakami Homers Again to Continue Red-Hot Start
- Even the Mets’ Skid-Stopping Win Gave Them Little to Celebrate
- Three Takeaways on the Mets Finally Breaking Their 12-Game Losing Streak
- Lucas Giolito’s Holdout Ends With a Humbling Whimper—and a Golden Opportunity
This article was originally published on www.si.com as MLB Standings Show Just How Deep a Hole the Phillies and Mets Are In.
