Mets' Luis Severino gives honest assessment of playoff rivals

The New York Mets are in the middle of an exciting playoff race.

As of Monday afternoon, New York is tied with its archrivals, the Atlanta Braves, for the third and final NL Wild Card spot with identical scores of 78-65. The Mets are also within striking distance of the higher-ranked Wild Cards, just one and a half games behind the Arizona Diamondbacks (second Wild Card) and just two games behind the San Diego Padres (first Wild Card).

While it would certainly be beneficial for the Mets to have other teams lend them a hand (by beating their rival teams), that has not occurred to key starting pitcher Luis Severino.

“I think for us right now, it doesn't matter who wins and who loses,” Severino told the media after New York's 3-1 loss to the Cincinnati Reds. “Right now, we just have to win series. Even when we weren't even in the conversation about making the playoffs, we just tried to win games. And if we keep doing that, if we keep focusing on our team and not worrying about what the other teams are doing, then I think we'll do well.”

For his part, Severino was outstanding in his start on Sunday, throwing 6.2 innings with one run and eight strikeouts. Although he ultimately had to settle for a tie, he received a well-deserved standing ovation from the Citi Field crowd on his way to the New York dugout.

The right-hander's postgame comment was in response to two events that had a decisive impact on the Wild Card race. The first event was the Mets' nine-game winning streak coming to an end when Phil Maton allowed two runs in the ninth inning. The second event occurred just minutes later when the Braves defeated the Toronto Blue Jays in overtime to tie New York in the standings; both teams have 19 games remaining and will face each other in a monumental three-game set at Truist Park on September 24-26.

Despite the importance of each Braves game, Severino prefers to focus on his own team. With the Mets still in control of their destiny, that's a great attitude for Severino – and the rest of the team.