ShareLOS ANGELES: The New York Mets and Atlanta Braves split their weather-delayed double-header to seal their places in Major League Baseball’s playoffs on Monday. The Mets booked a wild card series clash against the Milwaukee Brewers after winning a thrilling opening game at Atlanta’s Truist Park 8-7.
The Braves, needing to win the second game of the double-header to join the Mets in the playoffs, then came through with a nervy 3-0 triumph. The Braves’ victory saw them clinch the fifth seed in the National League playoffs, sending them into a best-of-three series against the fourth-seeded San Diego Padres starting on Tuesday.
The Arizona Diamondbacks - who could have advanced if the Mets or Braves had won both of Monday’s games in Atlanta - are now eliminated from postseason contention. While the rest of baseball’s regular season wrapped up on Sunday, the playoff fate of the Braves, Mets and Diamondbacks had been left hanging in the balance due to Hurricane Helene.
With the deadly storm battering the region over the weekend, the final Mets-Braves games of the season were postponed 24 hours. The Mets clinched their playoff spot in thrilling fashion in the first of Monday’s games in Atlanta, Francisco Lindor crushing a two-run homer in the top of the ninth inning to put New York ahead 8-7.
Lindor’s bomb was the final act of a jaw-dropping late rally which saw New York recover from 3-0 down at the start of the eighth inning to reel off six runs to take the lead. But Atlanta yanked back the initiative in the bottom of the inning. Jarred Kelenic singled to allow Eli White to cross home plate and then Ozzie Albies drove in three runs after doubling with a line drive to left field. That left Atlanta 7-6 up heading into the ninth, but Lindor’s blast to center-field put the Mets back in front to punch their playoff ticket. — AFP
