If the Mets can’t win the division title they’re going to make sure the Phillies can’t either.
Philadelphia dropped to four and a half games behind Atlanta after New York’s 6-4 win on Saturday.
The difference in the NL East race has been how the contenders have fared against the Mets. The Braves have taken care of business going 12-4 against the Mets with three meetings remaining. The Phillies are 6-10 against the Mets.
“They’re a big rivalry,” Mickey Callaway said. “I think guys get pumped up to go play them and we played solid baseball against them. We’ve gone out there and we’ve scrapped really hard against them every time we played them. And we’re not giving up at-bats.”
The Mets have dominated the Phillies over the past four seasons. Since the start of 2015, the Mets are 48-25 against the Phillies. They have won 21 of their last 27 series against Philadelphia.
Not even Jacob deGrom being skipped on Sunday for weather purposes helped the Phillies. Rhys Hoskins hit a two-run homer off Corey Oswalt in the first but the Phillies would only score once more. Michael Conforto’s three-run homer off Vince Velasquez was the big blow in a four-run fifth inning for the Mets.
The good news for the Phillies is that they didn’t give up 24 runs to the Mets like they did in a mid-August game.
“They’ve got a great pitching staff and they’re not an easy team to beat,” Callaway said. “One of the best pitching staffs in all of baseball and our hitters have grinded out every at-bat all year against that team.”
Although Atlanta is looking strong, the division is still up for grabs because the Phillies play seven of their final 11 games against the Braves. At this rate the Phillies might be happy that they only have to see the Mets three more times.