On Monday, the Cincinnati Reds woke up just 1.5 games behind the New York Mets in the race for the last National League Wild Card spot. However, after their visit to Los Angeles, they are now 4.5 games away from the coveted postseason berth.
The Reds could not cope with the Dodgers and only scored four runs in three games, dominated by Emmet Sheehan, Clayton Kershaw and Shohei Ohtani, who performed well as starters. On offense, Andy Pages, Kike Hernandez, Michael Conforto and Dalton Rushing took the main honors.
In this way, the Dodgers did a big favor for one of their great rivals in the National League. Unintentionally, Dave Roberts’ team gave the Mets a breather, as Cincinnati was breathing down their necks. But the sweep by the Dodgers, combined with the three wins by the New Yorkers against the Phillies, have changed the outlook.
A new air for the Mets
Carlos Mendoza was in a tight spot last Monday. With 14 losses in 21 games, the outlook was not very good for the Mets’ skipper, seven games behind the Phillies in the National League East. That’s how they went into the game against Philadelphia, which ended with a crucial sweep.
The boys from Queens punished Taijuan Walker, Jesus Luzardo and Christopher Sanchez, the latter one of the best pitchers of the campaign. In addition, they decided one of the games in the ninth inning against the pitches of star closer Jhoan Duran.
Mark Vientos led the Mets’ offense with six RBIs in three games, followed by Luis Torrens, Pete Alonso, Jeff McNeil and Brandon Nimmo, the latter with the aforementioned walk-off against the Phillies’ closer.
In addition, rookie Nolan McLean threw eight scoreless innings on Wednesday. On Monday, the relievers combined to pitch five almost perfect innings, while on Tuesday the stellar Edwin Diaz saved the day with a great relief performance in the closing stages.
Despite the sweep, the Phillies retain the top spot in the division with a four-game lead over the Mets. This is an important gap, especially considering that the New Yorkers will have to hit the road next week to face Detroit (the best team in the American League), Cincinnati (the direct rival for the last wild card) and Philadelphia again.
Dodgers-Mets: destined to meet in the postseason
If the regular season ended today, the Mets would face the Phillies in one of the Wild Card matchups, and the winner would go to the Division Series against the Dodgers. So, the Angels and New Yorkers could be doomed to meet in the playoffs, just as happened last year.
In 2024, these teams crossed paths in the battle for the National League pennant, with the Dodgers winning 4-2, and then going on to win the World Series title by defeating the Yankees.
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