MLB blows up NL playoff race by postponing series due to hurricane

Major League Baseball announced Wednesday that the final two games of the critical New York Mets vs. Braves series in Atlanta would be postponed and played in a doubleheader next Monday – the day after the regular season ends – due to the approaching Hurricane Helene.

The league’s decision completely upends the National League playoff race, which began Wednesday with the Mets holding a one-game advantage and Arizona Diamondbacks a half-game up on the Braves, who were on the outside looking in.

Now, the Mets and Braves will be forced to play two potentially decisive games just a day before the wild-card series are scheduled to begin. That likely leaves most of the potential NL playoff field in a holding pattern until the doubleheader ends.

The Mets and Braves had a scheduled off day this past Monday before the first game of the three-game series and the Atlanta area had always been expected to be impacted by Hurricane Helene, making Wednesday’s decision all the more frustrating for the teams involved.

Asked if he was surprised by how long it took MLB to make a decision, Mets manager Carlos Mendoza told reporters that ‘my job is to manage the team. We knew there was weather, but you can’t predict.’

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The storm reached hurricane status Wednesday and is forecast to make landfall in Florida on Thursday, putting much of the Southeast under hurricane advisory.

The Braves are set to host the Kansas City Royals – who are fighting for an AL wild-card spot – from Friday to Sunday while the Mets head to Milwaukee for three games before Monday’s newly scheduled doubleheader.

“I hope the Royals can get here,” Braves manager Brian Snitker told reporters. “I would hope we don’t get things screwed up for their series.”

If the Diamondbacks are mathematically eliminated by the end of the weekend and only wild-card seeding is left to determine between the Mets and Braves, the doubleheader’s status will be at the discretion of commissioner Rob Manfred.