Playoff Baseball In September
Courtesy: Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images
In the final weekend of the regular season, the New York Mets and Atlanta Braves will play in a crucial three game series to determine the Eastern division of the National League. This epic battle for the division has existed for months now with the Braves even covering ground before the All Star break. At one point, Atlanta was ten and a half games behind New York. At the All Star break, this lead shrunk to two and a half.
The Braves were one of the hottest teams in the summer going, 57-24 from June to August, highlighted by a 14-game winning streak. With a lead like the Mets have, one would think they played horrid baseball. However, the only blemish for the Mets was the month of June going 13-12 while the Braves went 21-6. Every month of the regular season the New York Mets played .500 baseball showing how consistent the team has been the past five months.
The stakes couldn’t be higher with a series win possibly giving Atlanta or New York a first round bye and home field advantage in the NLDS. However, one important thing to note is after the series wraps up in Atlanta, both teams will play one final series against NL East rivals. The Mets will play in Queens against the Nationals while the Braves will travel to Miami to face-off against the Marlins.
Additionally, the Marlins saw a great marketing opportunity calling for all Mets fans to root for the Marlins during their final home series of the season.
Game one on Friday night will be a pitching duel between aces Jacob deGrom and Max Fried. Game 2 will be Max Scherzer versus Kyle Wright, baseball’s first and only 20-game winner. The final game of the series on Sunday Night Baseball on ESPN will see Chris Bassit going up against Charlie Morton.
The two ball clubs pose a serious threat to the pennant with the Braves being one of the most balanced teams in the National League. At the same time, the Mets are equipped with the best two starters in baseball along with a formidable offense. The X-factor in this series could be the bullpen. The Braves have the third best relieving ERA while the Mets are 10th on that list. The Mets do have one of the best closers in all of baseball with Edwin Diaz, though, and have the highest save percentage in the National League with 73%, according to Baseball Reference.
The series will remind us why the final month of the season in baseball is always a must watch.
