NL East opening weekend takeaways: Mets meltdown, Braves offense soars, Nats, Marlins falter late

Needless to say, the vibes are very poor in Queens right now. After infamously choking away the NL East title to Atlanta in 2022, the Mets missed the postseason altogether with a horrendous 75-win campaign in 2023. After the first series of 2024, they're winless, with Rhys Hoskins and the whole of the Milwaukee Brewers sweeping the Mets in their home ballpark. 

Hoskins in particular was the subject of choice over the course of the weekend, hitting a home run in the second game of the series before getting thrown at later in the same game. While none of the games in the series were blowouts, it seems New York has a multitude of issues both on and off the field. 

Business as usual for Braves offense

The Braves' bats took out their anger on a Phillies squad that knocked Atlanta out of the postseason the past two seasons, garnering 32 hits and 21 runs over the first two games of the series. 

While Philadelphia ultimately salvaged game three, it seems that Atlanta's offense is just as potent as it has been for the past few seasons. 

The Phillies bullpen melted down in Friday's contest, while the Braves hammered Aaron Nola on Saturday before going cold late on Sunday afternoon. Despite the game three loss, all signs point to another historic year for a relentless Atlanta hitting core. 

Nationals, Marlins run out of steam on Sunday

Both Washington and Miami played well on Sunday, but both teams ran out of steam when it counted the most. 

After a rough 0-3 start to the season, the Marlins were tied at seven with Pittsburgh going into extra innings. After two Pittsburgh runners came across in the top of the 10th, Miami seemed to be in the catbird seat, having runners on the corners with nobody out. A flyout and two strikeouts later, Miami was 0-4, having been swept by the Pirates to open 2024. 

The Nationals, meanwhile, had a chance for their first season-opening series win since 2018, when, ironically, they swept the Reds in Cincinnati. With a chance to leave Great American Ballpark at 2-1, all that was left to do was for closer Kyle Finnegan to get three final outs. After getting the first two fairly easily, Jonathan India doubled, which was followed by a two-run homer by Will Benson to tie the game at five.

While Finnegan still had a chance to guide the Nats to extra innings, Christian Encarnacion-Strand had other ideas. 

The loss puts Washington at 1-2 heading back home to face the Pirates, and still without a season-opening series win since 2018.