The Braves left Flushing in the exact same shape they arrived: trailing by five games in the National League East. They did manage to trim a game off the chase back to get back to .500 — where they’re now three games away — and don’t find themselves in any worse shape by splitting the four games with the division-leading Mets.
That’s where things stand with these Braves, where a showdown series is twinged with positives when it doesn’t derail the season, though that’s just the first leg of this potentially defining sets between the teams, as New York comes to Truist Park for three games June 30-July 1.