The final two games of a three-game series this week between the New York Mets and Atlanta Braves have been postponed because of the anticipated effects of Hurricane Helene. The two teams will compete in a doubleheader in Atlanta on Monday – it will likely determine which team will go to the playoffs.

After winning the series’ first game and preparing Cy Young candidate Chris Sale to start Wednesday, the Braves definitely have some momentum that may have been enough to even the odds against the Mets. That being said, New York has been white-hot, and Francisco Lindor has been listed in the Wednesday lineup for the first time in two weeks, which could have also had an impact.

New York still has a one-game lead on Atlanta for the final Wild Card spot and will now play three games against the Milwaukee Brewers, who already clinched the N.L. Central, before returning to Atlanta. 

“We’ve got to move on to the next series now,” Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said of the rain delay. “We’re facing another really good team in Milwaukee, and we’ve got to go out there and not only win a series but we’ve got to go out there and take care of business. That’s the only thing we can do: control the things we control.”

The Braves will stay home for a three-game set against the Royals, who are still fighting for a Wild Card spot in the American League. Braves manager Brian Snitker expressed concern that the hurricane could also affect that series. For now, further changes to the schedule have been made.

In a long-term sense, the postponement is unfavorable for both teams. The first round of the MLB Playoffs begins next Tuesday, and instead of a day of rest, New York and Atlanta will now have to play an extremely meaningful doubleheader the day before. This will wear on both team’s pitching staffs and could also take a psychological toll. Both teams have been wired in a battle against one another for months, making the doubleheader between bitter rivals more of a culmination than the actual postseason in many ways.

To complete a dominant three-game sweep, the New York Mets defeated the Washington Nationals 10-0 Wednesday night to maintain a two-game lead for the last Wild Card spot. With three competitive series to end the regular season, earning a sweep against Washington may make the difference going into October.

After a walkoff 2-1 victory in extra innings Monday, the Mets didn’t waste any more time competing with the Nationals. New York won the next two games over Washington by a 20-1 combined score.

In the win Wednesday, the team scored nine runs in the fourth inning alone, and young prospect Luisangel Acuña hit his second MLB home run later on to punctuate the blowout. Acuña has stepped in for star shortstop Francisco Lindor and performed extremely well, maintaining much-needed momentum for a Mets team missing its leader.

With an 84-68 record and 10 games remaining, the Mets technically hold the second Wild Card spot because of a head-to-head tiebreaker over the Diamondbacks. Both teams are two games ahead of the Braves, who sputtered this week in games against the Dodgers and Reds. The Padres currently hold the first Wild Card spot by another 2.5 games.

After months of clawing their way through the National League, the Mets are finally in a relatively comfortable position. The season is far from over, however. After a four-game series with the Phillies, current leaders in the N.L. East, they will take on the Braves head-to-head in a three-game set that will likely determine the season. Not only are the two teams currently neck-and-neck in the Wild Card race, but they have also split 10 games this season, meaning that the final series will determine a very valuable head-to-head tiebreaker.

After seven games against division rivals, the Mets play the Brewers, leaders in the N.L. Central, in three games to end the season. Milwaukee has already clinched its division but could still pose problems to a Mets team that may be desperately clinging to a postseason berth by then — or fighting for some way back in.

The Mets’ turnaround this season has been the subject of extensive media attention in recent months. While the team’s offensive exploits and Lindor’s MVP campaign have been centerfold stories, however, less has been made of dramatic improvements in their rotation. All five of the team’s starting pitchers have become lights-out hurlers out of nowhere.

New York acquired Sean Manaea in the hopes that he could be a serviceable starter behind ace Kodai Senga. With the Japanese All-Star sidelined, Manaea surprisingly took the ace role himself, adopting new throwing mechanics and finding consistent success. Right behind him, one-year signee Luis Severino has revived his career after a dreadful 2023 season with the Yankees, improving his ERA from 6.65 to 3.77.

For most of this season, Manaea and Severino have been the only reliable arms, but that has changed recently. In Jose Quintana’s last five starts, he has earned a mind-boggling 0.28 ERA, throwing at least six scoreless innings in four of those outings.

David Peterson, notorious for injuries and rocky performances, has been phenomenal since early August, allowing two or less runs in eight of his last nine starts. Against all reason, he has a 9-2 record and 2.85 ERA this year. Even Tylor Megill, New York’s erratic fifth starter, has been steady since returning from injury in last August.

The Mets played the Phillies in Philadelphia last week, and though they competed well, they dropped the last two games by blowing early leads. With the Braves playing the Marlins this weekend, New York will almost certainly have to take a few games from Philadelphia to stay ahead. The more games the team wins now, the more they can afford to give as the series with Atlanta approaches.

The New York Mets defeated the Washington Nationals 7-0 Thursday, completing a three-game sweep at home. With a 47-45 record, New York is now in the final Wild Card spot, the first time the team has been in playoff position since early May.

After a disastrous 0-5 start and a cataclysmically bad month of May, the Mets went on a wildly unexpected run in June, winning 16 of 24 games to catapult themselves back into playoff contention with the best offense in baseball. After a frustrating stretch in early July, the team is back to its winning ways and took care of business against a weaker Nationals team in three games this week.

Outfielder Brandon Nimmo continued his torrid hot streak Thursday, hitting a three-RBI double in the fifth inning to kickstart a five-run rally. Slugger J.D. Martinez had a great day as well, going 3-for-3 with one RBI, two runs and a walk.

On the mound, shaky Mets starter David Peterson escaped a first-inning jam but eventually settled down and threw six scoreless innings. The bullpen, which has been wildly erratic since Edwin Diaz’ 10-game suspension last month, survived a few scares but kept the Nationals in check through the final three frames. It was the Mets’ first shutout victory of the season. They were the last team in MLB to earn one.

After years of elite pitching and mediocre offense, the Mets have completely flipped the script in the 2024 season. Nimmo and Martinez, along with the likes of Francisco Lindor, Francisco Alvarez and Mark Vientos, have formed one of the most potent lineups in the game. Jose Iglesias and Luis Torrens have been revelatory additions to the roster and a credit to the team’s new front office leaders. Slugger Pete Alonso, ironically the team’s only All-Star, has not quite kept pace with many of his teammates but remains a centerpiece.

On the mound, however, New York’s pitching staff has not yet earned anyone’s trust. Reliever Adam Ottavino is a walking heart attack and hot hands Reed Garrett and Jake Diekman have lost form since encouraging starts to the season. Peterson is one of several spot starters that struggle to consistently go beyond five innings. Ace pitcher Kodai Senga has not yet returned from injury.

All is not lost, however. Luis Severino and Sean Manaea have both been consistent starters all season, and Jose Quintana has caught fire in recent starts as well. In the bullpen, Diaz has bounced back from a tough start, injury and suspension to regain some confidence as the team’s closer. Adrian Houser and Jose Butto, who both had failed stints as starters earlier in the season, have found new roles as long relievers.

After cutting bait on several massive contracts last season, New York was always going to be an imperfect team in 2024. That being said, with a tense Wild Card fight on their hands with the Padres and Cardinals, the Mets will likely be surprise buyers at the trade deadline. Importing pitching of any sort could transform this squad from a ‘team of the moment’ to a legitimate playoff contender if the bats can stay hot.

The Philadelphia Phillies won Game 2 of their Wild Card series Wednesday to sweep the Miami Marlins. The team will now advance to the NLDS, where they will face the highly touted Atlanta Braves in a rematch of last year’s NLDS.

There were few points throughout the Wild Card series where the Marlins appeared to be in control, as the Phillies dominated much of the action through the first game, a 4-1 victory, and romped in the second to move on.

After an opening game in which Philadelphia mostly relied on ace Zack Wheeler, who allowed just one run and struck out eight batters in 6.2 innings, the team was more productive at the plate in Game 2. With a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the sixth inning, second baseman Bryson Stott hit a grand slam to extend the Phillies’ lead well beyond reach. They went on to win the game 7-1.

Though the bats woke up in Game 2, the pitching was just as dominant, as starter Aaron Nola allowed just three hits in seven scoreless innings of work. The Marlins never seemed comfortable at the plate, scoring just two runs in the entire series. There’s a team on the Phillies’ horizon, however, that will likely prove more capable.

With 104 wins in the regular season and 307 combined home runs, tied for the all-time record, the Braves are the surefire favorite to win this year’s World Series. Power hitters like Matt Olson, Marcell Ozuna and Ronald Acuna Jr., the first player ever to hit 40 home runs and steal 70 bases, are sure to provide a different challenge for Philadelphia’s pitching. Atlanta has several arms of its own as well, as Spencer Strider could possibly be rejoined by injured starters Max Fried and Charlie Morton in time for the series.

When these two teams faced off last year, both were in a roughly similar position. The Braves were formidable World Series favorites while the Phillies were unlikely underdogs who had squeaked into the playoffs as the sixth seed. But in a massive upset, Philadelphia’s pitching outlasted that of Atlanta and the team took the NLDS in four games. The Phillies went all the way to the World Series before falling to the Houston Astros.

Though both teams are in similar positions, the main difference going into this 2023 matchup is that both contenders have improved since last season. The Braves have finally realized their true potential at the plate, improving on a 101-win season in 2022 and setting multiple team and individual records along the way. The Phillies, meanwhile, added star shortstop Trea Turner in the offseason while retaining most of its talented pitching core.

“I think (we match up) pretty well,” Phillies manager Rob Thomson said Wednesday. “They have a great club, don’t sell them short at all. But I think we do match up. I think our offense can go against anybody’s. Our two starters, Wheeler and Nola, they’re really pitching well right now. They’re on a roll, and hopefully, they stay on a roll.”

Yadier Molina had already provided his brother, Bengie, with something to talk about when he homered in the fifth inning at Busch Stadium on Thursday, as Bengie was doing a Spanish internet radio broadcast upstairs.

Yadier Molina’s Controversial Walk-off Double Lifts Cardinals to 4-3 Home Win Over Reds

That broadcast was part of a promotion for Hispanic Heritage Month.

However, Molina gave his brother another reason to keep talking. After the Cincinnati Reds tied the game in the ninth inning, the catcher hit a controversial, walk-off RBI double that led the St. Louis Cardinals to a thrilling, 4-3 victory over the Reds.

The win put pressure on the Giants, who beat the Rockies late on Thursday to keep the Cardinals a game back of the second National League Wild Card spot. The Wild Card-leading Mets, off on Thursday, maintain the top spot with three days remaining in the regular season.

“Pure excitement. Pure joy,” Cardinals outfielder Stephen Piscotty said of the ending. “That’s a huge hit from a legendary player. Just the way the crowd reacted, it was just something that was playful, and it was cool to have that moment.”

Molina stepped up to the plate with two out and the potential winning run on first, and smacked a ball to left field. It bounced off the warning track and hit a panel of signage beyond the wall before caroming back into play. A throw from left fielder Adam Duvall was too late to get Matt Carpenter, who raced home to start the celebration.

What made Molina’s double so controversial? As the hosts began to celebrate in their dugout, the Reds remained on the field, desiring to challenge that the ball should have been ruled dead– and the umpires should have therefore ruled Molina’s hit as a ground-rule double– when it hit the signage. Cincinnati’s manager, Bryan Price, waited too long before requesting a review, and the game officially ended.

“In this situation, Bryan Price did not come up on the top step,” crew chief Bill Miller told a pool reporter after the game. “We stayed there. I waited for my partners to come off the field. I looked into the dugout, the Cincinnati dugout, and Bryan Price made no eye contact with me whatsoever, and then after 30 seconds he finally realized, somebody must have told him what had happened, and we were walking off the field.”

Before Molina’s walk-off double, the Reds had scored runs in the eighth and ninth frames. Duvall’s RBI single drove in one before an infield single by Scott Schebler in the ninth tied the score with two outs. In the bottom half of the ninth, Carpenter drew a one-out walk to initiate the Cardinals’ final big rally.

Cardinals center fielder Randal Grichuk allowed the Reds to tie it up in the ninth when he misread Ramon Cabrera’s fly ball to open the inning. Grichuk was unable to recover in time, and Cabrera’s toss flew over his glove for a double. A groundout pushed Cabrera to third before Schebler got a hit off closer Seung Hwan Oh that St. Louis had not chance of fielding for an out.

Joey Votto delivered his third hit of the night in the top of the eighth with a lofted double to left field that one-hopped in front of Tommy Pham. However, as Votto hustled and slid into second base, he was hit in the face by Pham’s toss. This left him with a bloodied chin that force him out of the game; he would need seven stitches.

“I feel fine,” Votto said after the game, his chin bandaged.

The Reds (67-92, 5th in NL Central) will next host the Cubs on Friday in their final series of the regular season (first of three games). Reliever Josh Smith will make his second start of the season.

The Cardinals, (83-76, 2nd in NL Central) meanwhile, will host the Pirates in the first game of their final three-game series on Friday. Cardinals righty Carlos Martinez will take the mound. Martinez is 15-9 on the season.

ST. LOUIS, MO – SEPTEMBER 14: Yadier Molina #4 of the St. Louis Cardinals hits a single in the eighth inning against the Chicago Cubs at Busch Stadium on September 14, 2016 in St. Louis, Missouri. The Cubs defeated the Cardinals 7-0. (Photo by Michael Thomas/Getty Images)