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Braves, Mets are tied in NL East | ESNY back page

It’s all tied up.

The Mets were hammered by the Pirates, 8-2, on Tuesday night. And the Braves downed the Athletics, 10-9. So for the first time since opening day, the NL East is a dead heat.

The Amazins and the reigning world champions are knotted up with identical 85-51 records. The Mets have lost 10.5 games in the standings since June 1 despite playing at an almost 100-win pace. The Braves have just been that hot. And now it’s a 26-game sprint to the finish.

The sidebars: Edwin Diaz is going to be one of many high-profile Mets free agents. And the Yankees are arguably in need of a closer. Here’s why it would make sense for the Bombers to make a big swing.

In other free agency news, Yankees president Randy Levine was asked about Aaron Judge’s future by The Post. And he said a great deal.

The standings: The Mets are tied with the Braves for the NL East lead. And they have a five-game edge on the Cardinals for the No. 2 seed in the NL postseason. The Yankees (81-54) have a 4.5-game lead on the Rays atop the AL East. The lead in the loss column is four games. And they have a 10.5-game lead on the Guardians for the No. 2 seed in the AL postseason (10 in the loss column).

The schedule: The Yankees will play a doubleheader against the Twins in the Bronx. The games will start at 3:05 p.m. and 6:35 p.m. And the Mets will have a doubleheader in Pittsburgh with games starting at 12:35 p.m. and 6:35 p.m.

More on ESNY:
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James Kratch can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @JamesKratch.

James Kratch is the managing editor of ESNY. He previously worked as a Rutgers and Giants (and Mike Francesa) beat reporter for NJ Advance Media.