Braves host Mets in doubleheader to determine last two NL playoff teams

ATLANTA (AP) — The Atlanta Braves hosted the New York Mets in a doubleheader Monday to decide the final two National League wild-card spots, a day after the scheduled end of the regular season.

The unusual twin bill was required after two games between the NL East rivals were washed out last week as Hurricane Helene wreaked destruction across the southeastern U.S.

The Braves could've clinched their seventh straight postseason appearance on Sunday, but a 4-2 loss to the Kansas City Royals left Atlanta at 88-72. The Mets also were at 88-72 after a 5-0 victory at Milwaukee, while Arizona finished the regular season 89-73 with an 11-2 rout of the Padres.

The Braves and Mets both hold a tiebreaker edge over the Diamondbacks, so all they needed to do was split the doubleheader to advance in tandem to the Wild Card Series. The Diamondbacks are watching from Phoenix, hoping for a sweep that would give them the final wild card.

Rookie Spencer Schwellenbach (8-7, 3.47 ERA) got the start for the Braves in Game 1 against Tylor Megill (4-5, 3.98) of the Mets.

Atlanta's Chris Sale (18-3, 2.38) and New York's Luis Severino (11-7, 3.91) were tentatively set to face off in the second game, but whoever won the opener was expected to push back their scheduled starter to Game 1 of the Wild Card Series on Tuesday.

NL Central champion Milwaukee and top wild card San Diego have already locked up hosting duties for the best-of-three opening round. Now, it's just a matter of who they will be playing.

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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb

Paul Newberry, The Associated Press