The baseball season is heading into overtime, with the National League still unsettled as the postseason approaches. While the American League playoff picture has come into focus, the NL remains a jumbled mess.
In the AL, the West division champion Houston Astros will host the Detroit Tigers, and the Baltimore Orioles will face the Kansas City Royals in best-of-three wild-card series starting Tuesday. The winners of these series will move on to face the AL Central champion Cleveland and the AL East champion New York Yankees, respectively.
Meanwhile, the NL is still up in the air due to two rainouts caused by Hurricane Helene last week. The New York Mets, Arizona Diamondbacks, and Atlanta Braves are vying for the final two wild-card spots in the 12-team playoffs. The Mets traveled back to Atlanta on Sunday and will play a makeup doubleheader against their rival Braves on Monday.
Arizona finished the season with an 89-73 record, while the Mets and Braves both ended with 88-72 records. If either team sweeps the doubleheader, Arizona will secure a playoff spot. However, if the twin bill is split, the Mets and Braves will advance, and Arizona will be eliminated due to losing their season series to both teams.
If Arizona does make the playoffs, they will be the No. 6 seed and will face the NL Central champion Milwaukee Brewers in a division series. If the Braves win either game of the doubleheader, they will play a division series at San Diego. If the Mets sweep the doubleheader, they will become the No. 5 seed and play at San Diego, but if they split and are the No. 6 seed, they will head back to Milwaukee to face the Brewers.
The Mets wrapped up their regular season with a 5-0 win over Milwaukee on Sunday, finishing 1-5 against the Brewers this year. Right-hander Tylor Megill and Atlanta rookie Spencer Schwellenbach are scheduled to start the doubleheader opener, while right-hander Luis Severino and Braves ace Chris Sale are lined up for the second game. However, if a team wins the opener, they may choose to save their starting pitcher for Game 1 of a division series on Tuesday.
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