Over the next three days, the visiting New York Mets and the Atlanta Braves will most likely clarify the National League’s wild-card playoff scenario.
With six games left, the Mets (87-69) entered Monday tied with Arizona for the second wild-card spot. New York holds a two-game lead over the NL East rival Braves (85-71), who are trying to make the playoffs for the seventh straight season. Their series opener is Tuesday.
“These are big that we’re going to play,” Atlanta manager Brian Snitker said. “We’ve got six more and they’re all going to be big. We’ll just come up Tuesday and try to go 1-0.”
The season series between the two teams is tied at 5-5. They split a four-game series in New York in July. New York can clinch a playoff spot by winning two out of three.
“It’s going to be a lot of fun,” said New York outfielder Brandon Nimmo, who hit the winning home run to beat Philadelphia on Sunday. “It’s going to be a playoff atmosphere down there and we’ve been playing playoff baseball honestly for a week now. So we’re just going to take the same energy and attack it with everything we have.”
The pitching matchup for the opener features New York right-hander Luis Severino (11-6, 3.79) against Atlanta rookie righty Spencer Schwellenbach (7-7, 3.61).
Severino will make his 31st start and has been one of the staff’s most consistent performers, failing to pitch five innings only twice all season. He has won four straight decisions and beat Philadelphia on Thursday, working six innings and allowing three runs on five hits and two walks while striking out seven.