Over the weekend, the New York Mets and Philadelphia Phillies played two games in London, finishing up the most extensive edition of the MLB World Tour. Major League Baseball opened the season in Seoul, South Korea, with the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres. In April, the Houston Astros and Colorado Rockies played two games in Mexico City.
For the two games played at London Stadium, the home of soccer’s West Ham United and the site of the 2012 Olympics, nearly 109,000 fans were in attendance. And the Mets and Phillies treated them to a pair of entertaining games.
New York won Sunday’s finale, 6-5, powered by a three-run ninth inning. On Saturday, the Phillies were the winners, 7-2, with the biggest moment coming with Bryce Harper’s soccer-style celebration following his fourth-inning home run.
On making the trip to London, Phillies manager Rob Thomson said, “I’d do it every year if we could. It’s been a great experience.”
Both teams arrived in London on Thursday morning, but didn’t play until Saturday night, and Mets shortstop Francisco Lindor thought it was too much down time.
“I get it, there’s a process of you’ve got to sell the games and stuff like that. But to me… playing the next day would have been a little bit more beneficial.”
Lindor added that the London experience was “fantastic.”
First-Place Phillies Rolling
The Phillies split the two games, but the weekend was beneficial to them in the standings. While they were away, the Atlanta Braves lost three of four games to the Washington Nationals. In the previous three years, the Braves were 36-15 against the Nationals. But in 2024, they are just 2-6 against the N.L. East division foe. Washington is better this season, finishing the weekend at 30-35. But the Braves are not nearly as good as they were in 2023.
Through 63 games in 2023, the Braves were 15 games over .500. This year, through 63 games, they are just seven games over .500. Meanwhile, the Phillies have played 65 games. They are 45-20, and they have the best winning percentage in Major League Baseball.
The Dodgers remain the favorites to win the World Series at +290, the New York Yankees are +500, and the Phillies are third at +600. Three weeks ago, the Phillies were paying +750 to win the World Series, which was behind the Braves. Atlanta has now dropped to fourth at +750.
The Phillies return to action on Tuesday with a nine-game lead in the N.L. East, and they are now heavy favorites to win the division, paying -360. Only the Dodgers are bigger favorites at -2500 to win the National League West. They finished the weekend as the only team in the division above .500.
With over 25 years of experience as a distinguished sports writer for renowned platforms such as Fox Sports and ESPN, Kyle Garlett is a sports betting specialist who has been at the forefront of documenting the global surge in sports betting and online gaming. Based in Denver, Colorado, Kyle hosts an NFL betting YouTube show and podcast. Kyle also has two sports books published by HarperCollins.
Kyle graduated the Azusa Pacific University in 1996 with a B.A. Degree in Communication and Journalism.
