These two series will make or break the Braves' quest to win a Wild Card spot

Obviously, at this point in the year every game, will have its importance for the Braves if they want to make the MLB postseason for a seventh straight season.

The NL East race is sadly just about all but over with the Braves and Mets sitting seven games behind the Phillies and Philadelphia's magic number sitting at 15. It would take a miracle for either team to steal the division away.

So the Braves are mostly focused on that final wildcard spot, which they are currently tied with the Mets for. There is a realistic world where both the Mets and Braves make the playoffs, too, as they both trail San Diego by two games for the top wildcard spot and Arizona by 1.5 games for the second spot. They hold the head-to-head tiebreaker with Arizona, but not with San Diego.

The Braves will play a two-game series at Washington, a four-game series at home against the Dodgers, a three-game series at Cincinnati, a three game series at Miami, a three-game series at home against the Mets and a three-game series at home against Kansas City.

These two series loom the largest for Atlanta

Los Angeles Dodgers - Sept. 13-16

In just a few short days, Atlanta will welcome the team with the best record in the MLB, the Los Angeles Dodgers, to Truist Park.

The series will be highly attended and highly watched because of the star power that will be on display for both teams and the mini-rivalry that so many postseason meetings between the two franchises have created.

But for the Braves, this could be the major turning point in their season. If they can at the bare minimum get a series split, it's hard to believe they won't be in the thick of the wildcard race, a series win or a sweep of their own would probably put them in playoff position with four series' left to play.

If they get swept, it'll be time to panic. The Padres will play three games against the Giants and one against the Astros. Winnable games. The Diamondbacks get three against the Brewers and one against the Rockies. The Mets will get three against the Phillies and one against the Nationals.

If the worst scenario happens and the Braves are swept, they will have to hope for dismal series' from their wildcard competitors, which to be fair, don't all have easy games themselves, specifically the Diamondbacks and Mets.

A successful series for the Braves at the minimum would keep them in it and at best would give them a big leg up heading into the final stretch.

More importantly, though, it would give this still-banged-up team a lot of confidence as they race for the postseason and try to prepare for another miracle World Series run. They continue to add new faces to the roster, and as other players return from injury, a good showing against the current-best team in baseball would do wonders for them if they want to make a serious postseason run.

New York Mets - Sept. 25-27

Stop me if you've heard this one before — a huge, pivotal series with the New York Mets is coming at the end of the season.

With just one more series against the Royals to play after their three-game homestand with the Mets later this month, barring a huge shakeup in the next two weeks, this series could be a wildcard play-in game, especially with what it could mean for tiebreakers.

As of now, the Braves and Mets are tied 5-5 in their head-to-head matchups this season, meaning the winner of this series holds the tiebreaker for a potential wildcard spot. And based on what happens in the next two weeks, it'll also just have huge implications for the wildcard standings in general. A series win here will likely put the victorious squad in the driver's seat with one series left to play.

And both the Braves and Mets play playoff teams, Kansas City and Milwaukee, respectively to end the season. So having that extra tiebreaker boost will be incredibly important.

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