(Atlanta) Dansby Swanson and Matt Olson hit a long ball in a third straight game, Travis d’Arnaud drove in two runs in the third inning and the Atlanta Braves defeated the New York Mets 5-3 on Sunday.
Posted yesterday at 11:45 p.m.
With the win, the defending World Series champions secured the tiebreaker between the two clubs and took a two-game lead over the Mets in the Nationals East Division.
With a Braves victory or a Mets loss, Atlanta would win a fifth straight division title. The Braves swept the three-game series against the Mets to secure that lead.
The Mets will play their last games of the season against the Washington Nationals, who sit last in their division. The Braves will cross swords with the Miami Marlins. If Wednesday, at the end of the season, the two clubs find themselves tied, the Braves would be crowned champions of the Eastern section of the National, because they won 10 of the 19 duels between the teams.
The Braves have won five of the last six games between the rivals, beating the Mets 42-19 on aggregate over that stretch. The Mets had a 10½ game lead on 1er June, but are now lower in the standings than at any other time in the season.
It’s a weekend to forget for the Mets, who showed up in Atlanta hoping to clinch their first division title since 2015. On the contrary, stars Jacob deGrom and Max Scherzer lost on Friday and Saturday, respectively, before Chris Bassitt lasted just two and two-thirds innings on Sunday.