After the Braves lost on Monday and the Mets held on to win the first game of their doubleheader this afternoon, they needed to take care of business against the Nationals in the nightcap and pray that the lowly Marlins could steal another victory from the Braves tonight to keep the Mets’ chances at a division crown alive for another day.
Lo and behold, the Marlins could not push more than one run across against Jake Odorizzi or the Braves’ stout bullpen. The Braves scored two, which is more than one, to beat the Marlins and clinch the NL East for the fifth straight season, a division the Mets led this year for over 170 days.