The National League East used to be the Atlanta Braves and the four dwarfs until thePhiladelphia Phillies became the division bullies the last five years.
By Steve Mitchell,, US Presswire
Outfielder Giancarlo Stanton, who hit 12 homers in May, says "I just have to keep it going."
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These days, though, everyone suddenly is looking alike.
Four of the five teams in the NL East are within two games of each other, with the Phillies sitting in last place but only 3½ games out of first entering Monday night.
This is the latest every NL East team has had a winning record since Oct. 1, 2005, according to Elias Sports Bureau. Each team in the American League East also is above .500, marking the first time in history every team in two five-team divisions have winning records this late in a season.
The race kicks into another gear today, when the Washington Nationals and New York Mets and the Braves and Miami Marlins kick off three-game series.
"It's wild out there," Phillies general manager Ruben Amaro told USA TODAY Sports.
"There's a lot of parity in this division, man. Right now, everybody is beating everybody else up in the division, which is great."
The East has had only two teams win the division and World Series in the same year since realignment in 1994: the 1995 Braves and 2008 Phillies. The Marlins won two World Series but never the division. The Nationals franchise hasn't had a winning record since 2003. The Mets have won the division once since 1988
As the Marlins went 21-8 in May, right fielder Giancarlo Stanton produced the greatest month in franchise history, hitting .343 with 12 homers and 30 RBI with two grand slams, one of them breaking a scoreboard.
"I played great," Stanton said, "but I just have to keep it going. It can't end here."
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