The Atlanta Braves surprised the New York Mets on Tuesday night with a 5-1 win to close the gap in the NL Wild Card race. Michael Harris II finished the game a triple shy of the cycle and made an incredible catch, hyping up the crowd at Truist Park. Spencer Schwellenbach also had a huge impact on the game as he pitched 7 innings and allowed just one earned run.
Chris Sale was supposed to make his final start of the season in game two on Wednesday. Unfortunately, Mother Nature had other plans as a storm system moving in ahead of Hurricane Helene disrupted things.
Details of Braves-Mets make-up doubleheader
The Braves announced just a little after 5 p.m. EST that the final two games of Atlanta's series against the Mets would be postponed. Both teams will now face off in a traditional doubleheader on Monday, September 30th beginning at 1:10 p.m. EST.
The remaining games vs the New York Mets scheduled for 9/25 and 9/26 have been postponed due to current and forecasted weather impacting the Atlanta area. Both games have been rescheduled as part of a traditional doubleheader on Monday, September 30th. The first game will begin…
— Atlanta Braves (@Braves) September 25, 2024
This isn't ideal as the Braves are just a half-game behind the Diamondbacks and one game behind the Mets for a spot in the NL Wild Card. Atlanta and New York could have to play two of the most important games of the season one day before the playoffs begin.
A lot has been said about the Braves and Major League Baseball not correcting course and moving the games up to the off day on Monday and moving the start time up on Wednesday for an afternoon game. The logistics on that would have been an absolute nightmare for Atlanta and not as easy as fans may think it is. However, it is fair to point out that MLB could have stepped in and proposed a solution.
Regardless of your opinion on that, it didn't happen and this is the hand each team was dealt. Chris Sale and Max Fried will likely start the first two games of the Royals series now. That hasn't been determined so it could change.
There's a chance the games may not be played on Monday but that depends on how things play out this weekend as Joel Sherman of the New York Post points out.
If the Diamondbacks are eliminated over the weekend and the Mets and Braves have not yet settled seeding it will be at the Commissioners discretion whether to play Monday for seeding purposes
— Joel Sherman (@Joelsherman1) September 25, 2024
It would have to be a wild scenario like the Mets sweeping the Brewers and the D-Backs winning the rest of their games while the Braves get swept for those games to be canned. If Atlanta is still within one or two games of New York or Arizona, those games will be necessary.
This isn't ideal for fans' blood pressure as the playoff race is tighter than anyone could have prepared for. Let's hope these two off days will benefit the Braves and help them get into the postseason.