Mets-Braves Postponement Sets Stage For Dramatic Wild Card Finish
September 26, 2024
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Wednesday’s game between the New York Mets and Atlanta Braves, who are battling for a National League Wild Card berth, was postponed until Monday.
The postponement, announced by Major League Baseball Wednesday afternoon, was a direct result of inclement weather in the path of Hurricane Helene, which is expected to cause inclement weather in the Florida panhandle and Georgia when it makes landfall Thursday.
More news: Hurricane Helene Tracker Update as Tropical Storm Shifts Path in Florida
“Major League Baseball announced today that the scheduled games between the host Atlanta Braves and the visiting New York Mets at Truist Park for both Wednesday and Thursday nights have been postponed due to the forecast and the inclement weather,” MLB said in a statement. “The games will be made up as part of a traditional doubleheader on Monday, Sept. 30 in Atlanta, beginning at 1:10 p.m. (ET). The second game of the doubleheader will begin 40 minutes after the last out of the first game.”
The result: a potentially wild finish to the Wild Card race that goes beyond the final day of the regular season Sunday. After playing each other twice on Monday, one of the two teams — or both, if they both clinch Wild Card berths — must play Game 1 of a best-of-three Wild Card series the following day. The location of the game might not be determined until Sunday.
The Mets (87-70), Arizona Diamondbacks (87-71), and Braves (86-71) are all separated by one game in the quest for two Wild Card berths. The San Diego Padres (91-66) have a strong 4.5-game lead for the first Wild Card berth with five games left on their schedule.
ATLANTA, GA – SEPTEMBER 25: Rain falls on Truist Park on September 25, 2024 in Atlanta, Georgia. The games between the New York Mets and the Atlanta Braves for Sept. 25 and 26 have been… ATLANTA, GA – SEPTEMBER 25: Rain falls on Truist Park on September 25, 2024 in Atlanta, Georgia. The games between the New York Mets and the Atlanta Braves for Sept. 25 and 26 have been rescheduled for a doubleheader on Monday, Sept. 30.
Kevin D. Liles/Atlanta Braves/Getty Images
If the Padres hold on to the top Wild Card berth, San Diego and the NL Division winner with the worst regular-season record will host Wild Card games on Oct. 1.
Through Tuesday’s games, none of the division leaders — the Philadelphia Phillies (93-65), Milwaukee Brewers (90-67) and Los Angeles Dodgers (93-64) — have yet to secure a first-round bye. The Padres can still wrestle the NL West title from the Dodgers, whom they play Wednesday and Thursday.
It all makes for a logistical nightmare.
Mets & Braves now have to play a doubleheader Monday, and then what? Travel to the Wild Card location that night with a blown out bullpen while all other teams had a day off and play WC Game 1 the next day? It’s a bad look for baseball to have everything come down to that. https://t.co/WTloR1DGFk
— Annie Heilbrunn (@annieheilbrunn) September 25, 2024
It also figures to put the Braves and Mets at a severe tactical disadvantage. Unless either team has clinched a playoff berth (or been eliminated) going into Monday’s doubleheader, they will face a mandate to pull out all the stops to win one or two games and punch their ticket to a Wild Card berth.
The Mets are scheduled to play the Brewers on Sunday in Milwaukee, while the Braves are scheduled to host the Royals that day. The Mets could face a stretch of four games across three days in three cities; the Braves a stretch of four games across three days in two cities.
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