Speaking before the Mets faced the Yankees on Tuesday night at Citi Field in the first edition of this year's Subway Series, manager Buck Showalter was asked about the NL East foe that's on the Mets' heels.
The Atlanta Braves, who were 10.5 games back earlier this season, enter play on Tuesday just 2.0 games back in the NL East.
But the huge chunk the Braves have taken out of the Mets' lead is more about what they've done right -- specifically reeling off a 14-game winning streak and playing at around a .750 clip over the last six weeks -- than anything the Mets have done wrong.
And Showalter is not surprised the race has tightened.
"It's a given that Atlanta was gonna be a very competitive foe, and tough to get through," Showalter said. "Same way with the Phillies. Everything is a week or two away. The pitching the Marlins have, they can run together 10 or 12 games. So you just don't dwell on whatever teams are doing.
"You look at it as a given, when the season starts, regardless of what may appear in April or May. It's just -- we all seek our level, we all get to have our curiosity satisfied. We live in a world that wants to know about something before it happens. We're gonna find out. It's called betting. It's called odds-makers and all that stuff that goes on.
"It's a given. Look at the team, the things they've accomplished and the pedigree teams like them have -- and the Yankees. It's just, it's a given."
