Credit to the Mets. They’ve conducted themselves, at least so far, in a manner unlike the Mets. They weren’t supposed to be good this year, having sold off talent in 2023 and added little over the offseason. They lead the Braves by two games with nine to go. Three games will be played here, which for the Mets is the stuff of nightmares.
Credit also to the Braves. They could have written off this season – it began as “World Series or bust” – as “just not our year.” It’s easier to list those who haven’t been injured than to name those who have. They stopped hitting for a while, and they still alternate days when they don’t score with those when they can’t stop scoring. They’re two games back, but they have the schedule you’d want.
The Braves play the Marlins this weekend. Since 2017, the Braves are 65-31 vs. the Fish. They had losing records against sub-.500 Cincinnati and Washington this year, but they still own the Marlins, against whom they’re 7-3. The games will be in Miami, not that it matters. The Marlins have the National League’s worst home record.
The Mets have three more games with Philadelphia, having won 10-6 last night. Odd though it sounds, the Phillies haven’t yet secured even a wild card. They will soon enough, but they need to beat the Mets twice to clinch the East. That Philly isn’t in gear-down mode is a boon for the Braves.
The Marlins have been in gear-down mode for months. They made the playoffs last season, though they didn’t last long. On May 4, they traded Luis Arraez – he’s positioned to win a third consecutive batting title – to San Diego. They made six deals and offloaded nine veterans at the trade deadline. They’ve won six games in September. They just yielded 37 runs to L.A. over three home games.
Baseball defies prediction, but it would be no shock if the Braves swept the Marlins as the Phillies take two of the next three at Citi Field. That would leave the Braves and Mets tied when they convene Tuesday at Truist Park, where the Mets are 25-36. They were 67-106 at Turner Field. (They did clinch an NLCS in Atlanta, but that was in 1969, and they did win a 19-inning game on July 4/5, 1984, but only after Rick Camp tied it in the 18th.)
In 1998, the Mets’ playoff hopes ended after a September sweep in Atlanta. Twelve months later, Chipper Jones won the MVP by foiling the Mets’ chances of winning the division with four homers over three days. Those Mets would return to Turner Field for three NLCS games. They’d lose all of those, too. Kenny Rogers’ walk-off walk of Andruw Jones sent the Braves to the World Series.
Different ballpark, same result. The Mets arrived in Cobb County on Sept. 30, 2022, leading the East by a game. They lost three games. They lost the division title via head-to-head tiebreaker.
Owing to injuries and underperformance, the bulk of the Braves’ season has had a just-get-us-to-October vibe. They’ll never admit it, but they’ve surely been eyeing this Mets series since Labor Day. So have Mets fans, though for a rather different reason.
Note: Arizona is tied with the Mets for the second/third wild cards. Both the Mets and Braves could make the playoffs. That somebody has to win the Braves-Mets series – and that the Diamondbacks’ next six games are against a just-clinched Milwaukee and sub-.500 San Francisco – renders that less likely.
Before the Braves and Mets convene Tuesday in Cobb County, the Braves have business in South Florida. A sweep there would mean they’ll enter the season’s final week knowing they can pull ahead by doing what the Braves do, which is beat the Mets.
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