 Early on, the unbalanced schedule favored the Mets, who had a winning percentage of .540 (27–23) against the division in the 2000 season, while the Phillies managed a .451 mark (23–28); the trend held true in 2001, when the Mets won the season series over the Phillies, 11–8.The scheduling drew criticism both when it was enacted and after the fact, with some analysts even positing that the unbalanced schedule "hurt" intra-divisional play.This, however, did not affect the Phillies and Mets, as they drew an average of 27,926 fans to their games in 2001.