In the National League East, a defining stretch of schedule is in the offing as the first-place Philadelphia Phillies and second-place New York Mets begin a three-game set at Citi Field on Monday.  Going into the series,

August has been a month filled with ups and downs for the Philadelphia Phillies. Though they are currently 9-3 at home on the month, a lackluster mid-month road trip stunted a potentially game-changing lead over the New York Mets.

The New York Mets are a season-worst seven games behind first-place Philadelphia in the NL East entering a three-game home series against the Phillies

The Philadelphia Phillies (76-54) and New York Mets (69-61) begin a 3-game NL East series Monday. First pitch from Citi Field in Queens, New York, is set for 7:10 p.m ET. Let's analyze BetMGM Sportsbook's MLB odds around the Phillies vs. Mets odds and make our expert MLB picks and predictions for the best bets.

The Washington Nationals entered the three-game weekend series against the Philadelphia Phillies feeling pretty good about themselves. Not only did they split a

Ranger Suarez tosses seven scoreless while Rafael Marchan drives in three, as the Philadelphia Phillies beat the Washington Nationals, 3-2

Ranger Suarez struck out a career-high 11 batters over seven shutout innings, and Rafael Marchan drove in all three runs as the Philadelphia Phillies held off a late rally to defeat the Washington Nationals 3-2 on August 24,

They're 5-1 entering a three-game showdown with the second-place Mets. And while they're mostly raking with the lumber, they're making hitters earn every base.

The Phillies will continue their playoff push without ace pitcher Zack Wheeler after the right-hander was diagnosed with Thoracic Outlet Syndrome on Saturday.