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HomeLocalNL Wild Card Showdown: Mets and Braves Battle for Playoff Glory

NL Wild Card Showdown: Mets and Braves Battle for Playoff Glory

 

 

MLB playoff race nearing conclusion as Mets and Braves vie for NL wild-card spots


(This article has been updated to include the latest information.)

 

The matchups for the Major League Baseball playoffs are nearly finalized.

Almost finalized.

On Sunday, 28 out of 30 teams completed their regular seasons, leading to the conclusion that the New York Mets and Atlanta Braves will need to play an extra day—specifically, games 161 and 162—at Truist Field in Atlanta to decide the last two National League wild-card entrants.

While no teams were eliminated, the outcomes from several games allowed for more clarity. Several team managers could start booking hotels and informing their flight crews of travel plans.

As for the remaining NL wild-card positions, which will be filled by the Arizona Diamondbacks (89-73), Mets (88-72), and Braves (88-72), the situation is somewhat straightforward (or so it seems) after Arizona and New York each won on Sunday, while the Braves faced defeat.

 

What determines the final NL wild cards?

The Mets will be traveling from Milwaukee to Atlanta Sunday night to play a doubleheader at Truist Park, a result of two games postponed last week due to the severe weather caused by Storm Helene. Rookie sensation Spencer Schwellenbach is set to be the starter for Atlanta in Game 1 against Mets right-hander Tylor Megill.

The formula is simple: If both the Mets and Braves win their games, they secure their playoff spots.

 

Meanwhile, the Diamondbacks need one of the teams to win both games to guarantee their spot in the postseason along with the winning team.

 

This puts Arizona in a peculiar position, as they will be rooting for the team that wins Game 1 to go on and win Game 2. However, the winning team from Game 1 may choose to hold back some of their best pitchers for Game 2 since they’ve already clinched their playoff berth.

Moreover, the need to play these makeup games on Monday means there’s no break before the wild-card series begins. The winning team from the early game will have less than 24 hours to travel to Milwaukee or San Diego to kick off the playoffs. Should the Braves drop Game 1, it will be intriguing to see if they decide to put Cy Young Award frontrunner Chris Sale on the mound for Game 2, as Atlanta has been resting him to secure extra time off and hopefully start the playoffs strong.

 

Arizona manager Torey Lovullo is left with no choice but to watch and hope that the outcome of Monday’s first game carries significant importance to the winner.

 

How will the NL contenders be ranked?

The San Diego Padres have secured the No. 1 wild-card spot and are positioned as the No. 4 seed in the NL.

Arizona can only secure the No. 6 seed due to tiebreaker losses against both the Mets and Braves.

If both the Braves and Mets make it to the playoffs, the Braves will be ranked as the No. 5 seed for having a better record against the Mets during the season, winning the series 7-6.

 

Let’s take a look at the playoff landscape and the prospective starters, starting with the clearly defined American League before addressing the more complex NL situation:

 

AL wild-card series

(All games can be viewed on ESPN/ESPN2/ABC)

No. 6 Detroit Tigers vs. No. 3 Houston Astros

Game 1, Tuesday: LH Tarik Skubal vs. LH Framber Valdez, 2:32 p.m. ET, ABC

Game 2, Wednesday: TBA vs. TBA, 2:32 p.m. ET, ABC

Game 3, Thursday, if necessary: TBA vs. TBA, 2:32 p.m. ET, ABC

No. 5 Kansas City Royals vs. No. 4 Baltimore Orioles

Game 1, Tuesday: LH Cole Ragans vs. RH Corbin Burnes, 4:08 p.m. ET, ESPN2

Game 2, Wednesday: RH Seth Lugo vs. RH Zach Eflin, 4:38 p.m. ET, ESPN

Game 3, Thursday, if necessary: RH Michael Wacha vs. RH Dean Kremer, 4:08 p.m. ET, ESPN

AL Division Series kicks off Saturday on TBS

Royals-Orioles winner vs. No. 1 New York Yankees

Tigers-Astros winner vs. No. 2 Cleveland Guardians

NL wild-card series

No. 6 Mets/Diamondbacks vs. No. 3 Milwaukee Brewers

Game 1, Tuesday: TBA vs. RH Freddy Peralta, 5:32 p.m. ET, ESPN

Game 2, Wednesday: TBA vs. TBA, 7:38 p.m. ET, ESPN

Game 3, Thursday, if necessary: TBA vs. TBA, 8:30 p.m. ET, ESPN2

No. 5 Mets/Braves vs. No. 4 San Diego Padres

Game 1, Tuesday: TBA vs. RH Dylan Cease, 8:38 p.m. ET, ESPN

Game 2, Wednesday: TBA vs. TBA, 8:38 p.m. ET, ESPN2

Game 3, Thursday, if necessary: TBA vs. TBA, 7:08 p.m. ET, ESPN

NL Division Series begins Saturday on Fox/FS1

Mets/Braves-Padres winner vs. No. 1 Los Angeles Dodgers

Mets/Diamondbacks-Brewers winner vs. No. 2 Philadelphia Phillies