The Phillies and Mets have been bad. But they’re playing for first place in the NL East this weekend. | Extra Innings

Remember how bad the NFC East was last season? Well, apparently that virus can jump from football to baseball and if it has infected the NL East. Investigations are ongoing, but the evidence is becoming overwhelming.

Less than 24 hours after the New York Mets lost another start by a pitcher (Jacob deGrom) who should almost never lose, the Phillies, with their own ace Aaron Nola on the mound, failed in their latest attempt to get back over .500 Thursday afternoon by falling, 4-3, in 10 innings to the Cardinals at St. Louis’ Busch Stadium.

That left the Atlanta Braves with an opportunity to take over first place with a home win against the Chicago Cubs on Thursday night. Instead, they were blown out, 9-3, at Truist Park, leaving the Mets (9-10), Phillies (12-13) and Braves (12-13) in a three-way tie for first place in baseball’s worst division. The Miami Marlins (11-13) are only a half-game back, and the Washington Nationals are only a game off the pace despite a 9-12 start.

Yuck.

For what it’s worth, the Phillies and Mets will battle for first place during a three-game series this weekend at Citizens Bank Park.

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— Bob Brookover (extrainnings@inquirer.com)

» READ MORE: Phillies making the least out of playing in mediocre NL East | Bob Brookover

For the third time this season, the Phillies will open a series against the Mets on Friday night, and they should see a lot of themselves in their closest divisional rival to the north. Both teams entered the season with high expectations and seemed to be ready for takeoff early in the year.

The Phillies, after opening the season with a three-game sweep of Atlanta, took two out of three from the Mets at Citizens Bank Park to improve to 5-1. They are 7-12 since then.

The Mets, after a 2-3 start, swept a three-game series from the Phillies at Citi Field to move into first place. They also won their next game in Colorado to improve to 6-3, but they are 3-7 since then.

Both teams have terrific top-of-the-rotation starters. The Phillies’ Nola, Zack Wheeler and Zach Eflin are a combined 5-4 with a 3.26 ERA, and the team is 9-7 in the trio’s starts. They should be better, but the Mets know all about that kind of thing.

New York’s top trio of deGrom, Marcus Stroman and Taijuan Walker is 6-4 with a 1.46 ERA, and the team is 8-5 in the trio’s starts. The fact that deGrom has a 0.51 ERA and the Mets are only 2-3 in his starts is unfathomable. In the three losses, deGrom has allowed just two runs in 20 innings, but the Mets were shut out twice and the bullpen allowed five runs after he departed his first start of the season against the Phillies.

Both teams have had problems filling out the Nos. 4 and 5 spots in their rotations. The Phillies’ Chase Anderson, Matt Moore and Vince Velasquez have a combined 7.25 ERA, and the team is 3-6 in their nine starts. The Mets’ duo of David Peterson and Joey Lucchesi has a combined 6.40 ERA, and the team is 1-5 in its six starts.

The Mets have the more favorable pitching matchup in the series opener Friday with Stroman going against Anderson, and the Phillies have the more favorable matchup in the series finale Sunday with Eflin going against Peterson. The middle game Saturday will feature an outstanding pitching matchup between Wheeler and Walker.

Neither Nola nor deGrom will pitch in this series.

The Mets bullpen, with a 3.83 ERA, has pitched far better than the Phillies’ relief corps, which has already been charged with five blown saves, but the Phillies have an advantage in the hitting department.

New York is averaging a National League-worst 3 runs per game, and its 15 home runs are the fewest in baseball. Since sweeping their series against the Phillies earlier this month, the Mets have hit just .220 and averaged 2.5 runs over 11 games. The Phillies are averaging only 3.8 runs, which ranks 13th in the National League, ahead of only the Mets and Nationals.

The bottom line is that both teams have been major disappointments through the first month of the season and yet they will battle for first place in the division this weekend at Citizens Bank Park.

Manager Joe Girardi took the blame for the Phillies’ loss to the Cardinals in the series finale after his fifth-inning decision to walk the No. 8 hitter and have Nola face the struggling Matt Carpenter resulted in a three-run home run.

Columnist David Murphy thinks it’s time for baseball to get rid of the unwritten rule that implores a team to get eye-for-an-eye retribution after batters are drilled the way the Phillies’ Bryce Harper and Didi Gregorius were Wednesday night by St. Louis reliever Genesis Cabrera.

Hector Neris might have extracted retribution for Cabrera’s two ill-fated fastballs when he hit Nolan Arenado in the bottom of the ninth inning Thursday, but there were also acts of civility between Harper and Cabrera.

Both Harper and Gregorius sat out Thursday’s game, but Girardi is hopeful they can play in the series opener against the Mets on Friday night.

Tonight: Chase Anderson faces Marcus Stroman in series opener with Mets, 7:05 p.m.

Tomorrow: Zack Wheeler pitches against his former team and Taijuan Walker, 6:05 p.m.

Sunday: Zach Eflin vs. David Peterson on Sunday Night Baseball, 7:08 p.m.

Monday: Start of a four-game home series vs. Milwaukee, 7:05 p.m.

May 7: Start of a three-game series against Atlanta at Truist Park, 7:20 p.m.

With just one day left in the month of April, Bryce Harper is hitting .321 with a .448 on-base percentage, a .615 slugging percentage, and a 1.063 OPS. He also has five doubles, six home runs, and 10 RBIs. If that sounds like a good start, it is, but it’s also a typical one for Harper.

Harper’s best month during his career has been the first one. In 202 career March/April games, he has batted .300 with a .430 on-base percentage, a .599 slugging percentage, and a 1.029 OPS. All those numbers represent his best monthly totals. His 44 doubles and 53 home runs in April are also his best monthly outputs.

Send questions by email or on Twitter @brookob.

Question: McCutchen is done. Do you keep Maton in lineup, move Segura to third, Bohm to first and Hoskins to left? — John Q., via Twitter (@johnquinn83)

Answer: Let’s start with your comment, Boss, and then move on to your question. I think it’s too soon to throw in the towel on Andrew McCutchen. April has typically been the worst month of his long career. His .242 batting average, .343 on-base percentage and .749 OPS are all his worst monthly averages and well below his career overall averages. As a five-time All-Star and former NL MVP, he deserves more time to see if he can turn things around. Besides, the Phillies don’t have a lot of great options for left field anyway.

Now your question: If the Phillies do eventually decide to replace McCutchen in left field, I’d keep Alec Bohm at third, Jean Segura at second and Rhys Hoskins at first and place Nick Maton in left field. Like Scott Kingery, I think Maton is capable of playing a lot of positions and doing it well.