The Atlanta Braves and New York Mets every want one victory to qualify for the postseason after they meet in a make-up doubleheader on Monday in Atlanta.
Each groups are 88-72 and are in a digital tie with Arizona (89-73) for the Nationwide League’s two closing wild-card spots. If Atlanta and New York break up the dual invoice, each will advance to the playoffs since every group holds the tiebreaker over Arizona.
But when both group sweeps the doubleheader, the successful group would qualify for the postseason and the loser can be eradicated, sending the Diamondbacks to the wild-card spherical. Atlanta leads the season sequence towards the Mets 6-5.
“The way in which we began this yr (twice 11 video games below .500), no person anticipated us to be on this place,” New York supervisor Carlos Mendoza mentioned. “And right here we’re with an opportunity to do one thing particular. We’ll return to Atlanta and get that final one and go from there.”
Atlanta supervisor Brian Snitker, whose group is attempting to qualify for the playoffs for the seventh straight season, mentioned, “The ball is in our courtroom. If we won’t pull a kind of off, then you realize it is simply a kind of issues. We have accomplished a great job popping out every single day and attempting to go 1-0. We’ll begin contemporary with two of our higher guys going.”
The Braves will go along with rookie Spencer Schwellenbach (8-7, 3.47 ERA) within the opener and Chris Sale (18-3, 2.38) within the second recreation. If the Braves win the primary recreation, they’ll readjust their plans for the nightcap and reserve Sale for the opener of the wild-card sequence.
Schwellenbach beat the Mets on Tuesday, the right-hander permitting one run in seven innings. He has given up only one run in 14 innings in two begins towards New York.
Sale has already clinched the Nationwide League triple crown for pitchers. He leads the league in wins, ERA and strikeouts (225 in 177 2/3 innings). The final pitcher to steer the NL in all three classes was Clayton Kershaw in 2011.
In his 4 begins in September, Sale is 3-0 with a 1.13 ERA. His final loss got here towards the Chicago White Sox on June 27 when he allowed one run over seven innings in a 1-0 loss. Sale’s most up-to-date begin got here towards the Cincinnati Reds on Sept. 19 when he pitched 5 innings and allowed two runs to get the win.
Sale has confronted the Mets as soon as this yr and obtained a no-decision on July 25 after permitting two runs in 7 1/3 innings. He’s 1-0 with a 2.70 ERA in 4 profession begins towards the Mets.
The Mets haven’t but finalized their pitching plans for the doubleheader.
“Every thing is on the desk,” Mendoza mentioned. “We’ve an opportunity. We’re proper there and we get to play and we’d like yet one more, so we really feel good.”
Luis Severino (11-7, 3.91) will begin one of many video games. The veteran confronted the Braves on Tuesday, taking the loss after permitting 4 runs in 4 innings. In 5 profession begins towards the Braves, Severino is 1-2 with a 4.13 ERA.
If the groups break up, the Braves would open the playoffs at San Diego and the Mets could be at Milwaukee. If both group sweeps, it might open at San Diego, which might permit Arizona to make the playoffs and ship the Diamondbacks to Milwaukee.
–Area Stage Media