The Mets can help the Phillies in their quest for the Wild Card
The Philadelphia Phillies are looking to make franchise history this season by clinching their first-ever Wild Card berth.
Winning the division is unlikely at this point, though not impossible, but a wild card is more realistic and attainable. They currently hold the third wild card, behind the Atlanta Braves and San Diego Padres, but the St. Louis Cardinals and San Francisco Giants aren’t fare behind.
Hopefully, this week, they’ll get some help from the unlikeliest source, the New York Mets.
That’s right, their greatest rivals could also help them on their quest to reach the postseason for the first time since 2011, the longest drought in the NL.
While the Phillies wrap up their four-game set in St. Louis and prepare for two games in Toronto, the Mets will be taking on the Atlanta Braves. It won’t be an easy series; the Braves are on a tear lately, 8-2 in their last ten games. The Mets are 6-4 this month, but their once-commanding hold on first place in the NL East has shrunk to just 1 1/5 games ahead of the Braves. They were 10 1/2 games ahead of all division competition at the beginning of June.
In the Wild Card standings, the Braves own the top of the three spots, ahead of the rest of the NL by a commanding 5 1/2 game lead. If the Mets can reduce that over their three-game set and the Phillies can continue winning their own games, they’ll strengthen their spot in the standings.