No Ronald Acuña Jr. No Spencer Strider. No Austin Riley. No A.J. Minter. Tons of other injuries throughout the course of the season.
And yet, the Braves have clinched a postseason berth for the seventh consecutive year.
With a 3-0 win over the Mets in the second game of Monday’s doubleheader, the Braves locked in a date with the Padres at Petco Park in a best-of-three wild card series that begins Tuesday at 8:38 p.m.
Game 2 will be on Wednesday at 8:38 p.m. Game 3, if necessary, is Thursday at 7:08 p.m.
The Braves’ victory eliminated Arizona, which needed one of the teams to sweep this doubleheader. The Mets won, 8-7, in a back-and-forth first game.
True to the theme of this season, the Braves did not make this easy on fans. They needed all 162 games to punch a ticket to play in October.
They lost the first one and, with their season on the line, turned to Grant Holmes. They scratched Chris Sale, whom they’d saved for an elimination game, due to back spasms. His status for the wild card series is uncertain.
The Braves didn’t look great for most of the win. Versus Joey Lucchesi, a depth starter for New York, they scored one run over six innings.
Holmes, who pitched Sunday, held the Mets scoreless over four innings. Then the Braves used five relievers, including Reynaldo López, who is part of their starting rotation. Raisel Iglesias, who gave up the lead in the first game, earned the save in the second game.
The Phillies won the National League East, which snapped Atlanta’s streak of six consecutive division titles. But the Braves still found a way into the postseason.
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