WASHINGTON -- The New York Mets and Washington Nationals have combined to win the last three titles in the National League East.
But there was not much of a pennant race when the Nationals took the crown in 2014 and 2016 or when the Mets prevailed in 2015 on the way to the World Series. The Mets won the division by seven games in 2015 while the Nationals were eight games better than New York last year and 17 games in front of their nearest foe in 2014.
The Mets will need a good showing this weekend in Washington if they don't want to fall further behind the surging Nationals, who posted a record of 9-1 on a three-city road trip that ended Thursday in Denver with a 16-2 thumping of the Colorado Rockies.