Baseball's Wild Finish: The Playoff Push Continues

The baseball world is on the edge of their seats as the National League wild-card race remains undecided. On Monday, the New York Mets and Atlanta Braves will face off in a doubleheader, which could determine who gets to play in the postseason. The Arizona Diamondbacks are also keeping a close eye on this game because they need one of these teams to sweep both games to secure their spot in the playoffs. This doubleheader is actually a makeup game from earlier in the week when Hurricane Helene caused rainouts during the Mets-Braves series. Right now, the Braves, Mets, and Diamondbacks are virtually tied for the last two wild-card spots. Since both the Mets and Braves have the advantage over the Diamondbacks in case of a tie, the Diamondbacks need a clean sweep to make it into the playoffs. If the Mets and Braves split their games and end up with identical 89-73 records, the Diamondbacks will be left out of the postseason. The potential scenarios for clinching a playoff spot are as follows: If the Mets win the first game and the Braves win the second, the Braves will become the No. 5 seed and head to San Diego for a wild-card series against the Padres, while the Mets will be the No. 6 seed facing the Milwaukee Brewers. The same result occurs if the Braves win the first game and the Mets win the second. If the Mets manage to win both games, they'll take the No. 5 seed and play against the Padres, leaving the Diamondbacks in the No. 6 spot to face the Brewers. Similarly, if the Braves sweep both games, they'll be the No. 5 seed playing the Padres, with the Diamondbacks as the No. 6 seed facing the Brewers. The starting pitchers for these games are Tylor Megill for the Mets and Spencer Schwellenbach for the Braves in the first game. Chris Sale is scheduled to start the second game for the Braves, but his availability is uncertain due to a recent decrease in his pitching speed. The Mets' bullpen is also a concern because their closer, Edwin Diaz, threw 26 pitches on Sunday and might not be available for Monday's games. On the other hand, the Braves have a strong bullpen that should hold up well during the doubleheader.