ATLANTA — With the midseason break for Major League Baseball’s All-Star Game now just a week away, the standings show no one has been better so far this year than the Philadelphia Phillies.
A wild-card qualifier before deep playoff runs the past two years to the 2022 World Series and the 2023 National League Championship Series, they are currently an MLB-best 58-32 and own an eight-game lead in the NL East.
The No. 2 team in the current NL East standings, six-time reigning division champion Atlanta (49-39), has proven pretty pesky in six meetings between the rivals so far this year, though.
Reynaldo López threw six strong innings Sunday afternoon, and the Braves hit four homers in a 6-0 victory over the Phillies as the home team took two of three games in the weekend series at Truist Park. Atlanta also won two of three in the season-opening series in Philadelphia in late March.
López (7-2) lowered his NL-best ERA to 1.71, allowing just two hits and three walks while striking out six batters.