The New York Mets won four of five against the Atlanta Braves in a crucial series over the weekend, expanding their NL East lead to 6½ games entering Monday, the largest cushion since June 18.
Jacob deGrom returned after more than a year away from a big-league mound and in two starts has given up three earned runs with 18 strikeouts to only one walk. DeGrom looked dominant in 5 ⅔ innings Sunday against the Braves giving up one hit with 12 strikeouts to pick up his first win of the season.
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Mets starting pitchers had a 2.36 ERA in the last 25 games and have gone 12-3 since the All-Star break. New York (70-39) is tied for baseball’s second-best record entering Monday and is 30 games over .500 for the first time since 2006.
Across town, the Yankees have gone 6-10 since the break and dropped from No. 2 to No. 4 in this week’s MLB power rankings.
Here’s how USA TODAY Sports’ eight-person panel voted this week
Rank (movement from last week)
1. Los Angeles Dodgers (–)
- Started August with seven consecutive wins against the Giants and Padres.
2. Houston Astros (+1)
- Trey Mancini hit three homers with seven RBI in his first six games with Houston.
3. New York Mets (+1)
4. New York Yankees (-2)
- Five straight losses through Sunday, heading into a tough three-game set in Seattle.
5. Atlanta Braves (–)
- Losing four of five to the Mets was bad, but they’ll play another four-game set next week.
6. San Diego Padres (+1)
- Landing Juan Soto and immediately getting swept by the Dodgers sums things up pretty well.
7. Toronto Blue Jays (-1)
- Within 10 games of the Yankees (9 ½ entering Monday) for the first time since June 15.
8. St. Louis Cardinals (+5)
- Seven-game winning streak has St. Louis atop the NL Central.
9. Philadelphia Phillies (+1)
- Having won nine of 10, the Phillies are only three games behind the Braves through Sunday.
10. Seattle Mariners (-1)
- Luis Castillo gets the win in Mariners debut, striking out eight in 6 ⅔ innings.
11. Minnesota Twins (+1)
- Deadline addition Michael Fulmer started his Twins career with three scoreless outings.
12. Milwaukee Brewers (-4)
13. Tampa Bay Rays (-2)
- Tyler Glasnow on a 2022 return: “Not something I’m willing to rush into and make a stupid judgment call because my ego wants to get tickled for a week.”
14. Baltimore Orioles (+1)
- Only 2 games out of the wild-card entering Monday. Good thing they traded their All-Star closer.
15. Cleveland Guardians (-1)
- Franmil Reyes (92 HR in 411 games from 2018-2021) designated for assignment.
16. Chicago White Sox (–)
- Dylan Cease sets MLB record with 13 consecutive starts giving up one earned run or less.
17. Boston Red Sox (+1)
- Eric Hosmer, who rejected a trade to Washington, goes 2-for-10 to start his time in Boston.
18. San Francisco Giants (-1)
- California native JD Davis homered twice in his first three games for the Giants.
19. Texas Rangers (+1)
- Since the All-Star break, Martin Perez has a 1.35 ERA in three starts.
20. Miami Marlins (-1)
- Jesus Luzardo looking sharp (2 ER in 12 innings) since returning from the injured list.
21. Arizona Diamondbacks (–)
22. Colorado Rockies (–)
- Claimed Dinelson Lamet off waivers after the Brewers DFA’d him.
23. Los Angeles Angels (–)
- Mickey Moniak broke his finger after homering twice in his first five games with Angels.
24. Chicago Cubs (+1)
- Offseason signing Andrelton Simmons gets released.
25. Cincinnati Reds (+1)
- Justin Dunn (Winker/Suarez trade) will make his Reds debut Monday.
26. Detroit Tigers (-2)
- Matt Manning goes seven scoreless innings against the Rays.
27. Pittsburgh Pirates (–)
- Dropped a weekend set in Baltimore after sweeping the Brewers.
28. Kansas City Royals (–)
- MJ Melendez has 15 hits, 4 HR and 13 RBI in his last 15 games.
29. Oakland Athletics (–)
- Seth Brown has five home runs in his last eight games through Sunday.
30. Washington Nationals (–)
- Luis Garcia getting reps at second base with CJ Abrams’ arrival on the horizon.
