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NL East Weekly No. 2

Date: July 23, 2021

By: Justin Nicosia

Juan Soto prepares for an at-bat during a Nationals game.

Getty Images

*Note: stats and records are prior to action on July 22.* 

The NL East had an eventful first week of the MLB’s second half. Included in this week’s edition of NL East Weekly will be the results of the week, the best players of the week, a preview of each team’s upcoming schedule, and the updated standings.

Atlanta Braves: Freeman’s Finding His Way

Freddie Freeman smiles during the All-Star Game after getting on-base.

Matt Dirksen – Colorado Rockies/Getty Images

While Ronald Acuña, Jr. successfully underwent surgery Wednesday for his torn ACL, his All-Star teammate Freddie Freeman has played at an MVP level. In Atlanta’s five games since the break, Freeman has nine hits, three home runs, and five RBIs in 19 at-bats, good for a triple slash of .474/.476/.947.

Atlanta started the second half with a six-game homestand, facing a pair of playoff-caliber teams, the Rays and the Padres, in that span. The Braves only won one out of three against the Rays as their season-long bullpen woes continued into their series against the Rays, blowing leads in the seventh inning or later in losses on Friday and Sunday. 

The Braves’ series against the Padres began with a 2-1 victory on Tuesday, after a rainout Monday forced a doubleheader on Wednesday. San Diego took the first game of the doubleheader, 3-2, and started the nightcap off hot, carrying a 5-2 lead into the bottom of the fifth before the rain hit. The rain continued through the night, forcing the game to be suspended, with no makeup date in sight.

Upcoming schedule: four games at PHI (7/22-7/25), five games at NYM (7/26-7/29, doubleheader on 7/26).

Miami Marlins: The Fish Flop

A Marlins player is frustrated on the mound because of Miami's losing streak lately.

Mark Brown/Getty Images

Miami’s offensive concerns have continued past the All-Star festivities, as the Marlins have scored only 22 runs in seven games since the break. While Miguel Rojas has been phenomenal since the team’s return, triple slashing .393/.379/.643, the rest of the team has not gotten it done. 

The Marlins started the second half splitting a doubleheader against Philadelphia, with a July 1 rainout being made up, losing the first game 5-2, but winning the second game 7-0. Saturday’s game was tied 2-2 after nine, forcing the game into extra innings, and later suspension after rain halted the game in the 10th. J.T. Realmuto hit a walk-off two-run home run in the bottom of the 10th for the Phillies to win 4-2, and Philadelphia later won Sunday’s scheduled game 7-4.

Miami then traveled to Washington for a three-game set against the Nationals. The series started off in one of the worst ways imaginable, with Washington scoring 10 runs before the second inning was even over, losing 18-1 when all was said and done. On Tuesday, Miami saw a 3-2 sixth inning lead fade away after Richard Bleier and Anthony Bender combined to give up three runs on four hits in a 6-3 losing effort. Miami avoided the sweep Wednesday with a 3-1 extra inning win.

Upcoming schedule: four games vs. SD (7/22-7/25), two games at BAL (7/27-7/28).

New York Mets: The Bats Come Alive

Michael Conforto celebrates during a New York Mets baseball game.

Getty Images

The Mets’ worst nightmares came to fruition this past weekend when both Jacob deGrom (forearm) and Francisco Lindor (oblique) were placed on the 10-day IL, with no timetable set for either player’s return. The injury of deGrom forced an already-depleted Met’s rotation to rely heavily on the bullpen for the first week of the second half.

New York lost the first two games of the weekend series against Pittsburgh, dropping Friday’s game 4-1, and Saturday’s game 9-7 after Seth Lugo and Edwin Diaz combined to blow a 6-0 lead and gave up nine runs in the last two innings, including a walk-off grand slam by Jacob Stallings. The Mets then bounced back on Sunday to avoid a sweep, coming back from a 6-0 deficit of their own to win 7-6, after Taijuan Walker failed to make it out of the first inning. 

The Mets proceeded to have a bullpen game on Monday against Cincinnati on the road, which made their 15-11 extra inning victory even more impressive after the 8.2 bullpen innings on Sunday. They lost to the Reds on Tuesday 4-3, setting up a rubber game on Wednesday in which the Mets won 7-0, behind a Dominic Smith grand slam, and eight innings of one-run ball from Marcus Stroman.

Despite losing three of six games to start the second half, the Mets, who went into the break with the 29th ranked offense in the MLB (3.72 runs per game), has nearly doubled their run output to 6.67 runs per game, behind solid weeks from Michael Conforto (three HR, 1.031 OPS), Pete Alonso (.346/.433/.615), and Dominic Smith (.318 AVG, six RBIs)

Upcoming schedule: three games vs. TOR (7/23-7/25), five games vs. ATL (7/26-7/29, doubleheader on 7/26).

Philadelphia Phillies: Up and Down

Philadelphia Phillies' Travis Jankowski stands near the batter's box and points during a game.

Bill Streicher/USA TODAY Sports

The Phillies started the second half hot, taking three out of four at home from the Marlins (which I already wrote about when covering Miami). Travis Jankowski was a big part in giving the Phillies the series win, and he’s hit .467 with four RBIs in 15 at-bats since the break.

After the Phillies took care of business against last-place Miami, they traveled to the Bronx for a two-game set against the New York Yankees. In Tuesday’s game, the Phillies fell 6-4 despite home runs from Rhys Hoskins and Andrew McCutchen. Aaron Nola struggled once again, allowing four runs in 5.1 innings. On Wednesday, the Phillies lost 8-5 in 10 innings, after they saw a 2-0 lead slip away after Cristopher Sanchez gave up two runs in the fourth, and Hector Neris gave up three more in the seventh to make it 5-2. The Phillies would come back in the top of the eighth, drawing four walks in the inning on top of a two-run single from Luke Williams, until Ranger Suarez gave up a walk-off single to pinch hitter Ryan LaMarre.

Upcoming schedule: three games vs. ATL (7/22-7/25), four games vs. WSH (7/26-7/29).

Washington Nationals: Runs Galore

Juan Soto celebrates and puts his hands in the air during a Washington Nationals' game.

Mitchell Layton/Getty Images

While I won’t be discussing the Nationals’ series against the Marlins in-depth, where they scored 25 runs in three games because I already covered it in the Marlins’ section, I will discuss the Nationals’ series against the San Diego Padres in great detail. The Nationals had the worst start of the weekend imaginable as they gave up 24 runs Friday night to lose 24-8 to the Padres, with San Diego scoring in every inning except the seventh. Juan Soto, who has been phenomenal since the break (five HR, 12 H, 12 RBIs, .522/.621/1.261), went four for five with a home run and four RBIs.

Saturday’s game saw the Padres offense remain hot, taking an 8-4 lead into the middle of the 6th inning before a scary scene happened just outside the park where gunshots injured three and forced teams into the clubhouses, with some players taking fans with them to safety. Fortunately, nobody was critically injured, but the situation undoubtedly made it so the game could not continue that night. When action continued, the Nationals’ bats failed to score, and the two runs San Diego tacked on in the top of the seventh made the final score 10-4, Padres.

The series finale on Sunday, which was expected to be a pitcher’s duel between Joe Musgrove and Max Scherzer, turned into an exciting offensive affair with two ties and two lead changes. The Nationals grabbed an early 4-0 third inning lead before Scherzer gave up a three-run home run to Eric Hosmer in the top of the fourth and a solo shot to Jurickson Profar in the seventh to make it 4-4. Daniel Hudson worked the top of the eighth for Washington and gave up a go-ahead two-run home run to Manny Machado. Emilio Pagan came into the bottom of the inning in a save situation but blew it after home runs from Alcides Escobar and Juan Soto made it a 7-6 ballgame.

In the top of the ninth, Brad Hand came on for the save, but after a walk and two stolen bases from Jorge Mateo, as well as a two-out, two-strike single by Trent Grisham, the game was tied once more. It would not remain tied for long, though, as four batters into Mark Melancon’s appearance, Alcides Escobar hit a walk-off single to Tres Barrera to send the Nationals home avoiding a sweep.

Upcoming schedule: three games at BAL (7/23-7/25), four games at PHI (7/26-7/29).

Current Standings

TEAM

W

L

GB

LAST 10

NYM

50

43

---

5-5

PHI

47

47

3.5

6-4

ATL

46

48

4.5

6-4

WSH

45

50

6.0

3-7

MIA

41

55

10.5

3-7

Justin Nicosia can be reached at justin.nicosia@student.shu.edu.

Posted in: Sports

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