The last two games of an important series between the New York Mets and Atlanta Braves were called off on Wednesday due to heavy rain from Hurricane Helene.
This means the wild-card race, which seemed likely to go down to the last day of the regular season, might need an extra day.
Now, the Mets and Braves are set to play a doubleheader on Monday, just 40 minutes apart, which could be crucial for deciding playoff spots.
New York will face the Milwaukee Brewers, who are the NL Central champions, in three games starting Friday. Meanwhile, the Braves will play a weekend series against the Kansas City Royals, a playoff hopeful in the AL.
“We’ve got to move on to the next series now,” Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said. “We’re facing another really good team in Milwaukee and we’ve got to go out there and not only win a series but take care of business. That’s the only thing we can do: control the things we control.”
The Mets (87-70) had a half-game lead over Arizona in the wild-card race, while the Braves (86-71) were a full game behind. Two of these teams will make it to the playoffs, which begin Tuesday with the best-of-three wild-card round.
“I hope the Royals can get here,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said, considering the bad weather forecast as the hurricane’s remnants move through Georgia. “I would hope we don’t get things messed up for their series.”
The Diamondbacks played against the San Francisco Giants on Wednesday night and will have a day off on Thursday before facing the San Diego Padres in a three-game series to finish the regular season.
The Braves won against the Mets 5-1 on Tuesday night in the first game of their series against each other.
Both teams had a day off on Monday, but there was no indication that either team or MLB thought about starting the series earlier. They also missed a chance to play Wednesday’s game before heavy rain hit the area in the afternoon.
Mets manager Carlos Mendoza mentioned that he didn’t talk with MLB until just before the decision was made to postpone both games at 5:11 p.m. EDT—about two hours before the game was supposed to start on Wednesday.
“Look, my job is to manage a team,” he said. “We knew there was weather, but you can’t predict it. We came here (Tuesday), lost a game, and we were ready to play today and we just got a call.”
With the last two games in Atlanta moved to later, the Mets might face a tough travel schedule in the upcoming week.
It’s possible they will fly back to Atlanta for the doubleheader on Monday and then quickly catch another flight—either back to Milwaukee or to the West Coast—for the start of the wild-card series on Tuesday if they qualify for the playoffs.
On the bright side, they did get a couple of unexpected days off before this busy stretch.
“I mean, it could be beneficial,” Mendoza said. “A couple of guys needing an extra day or two and your bullpen is going to be a little bit fresher.”
There’s a chance the doubleheader might not even be needed if the playoff race is decided by Sunday, but Mendoza wasn’t sure if there was a backup plan in place.
