Braves win, join Mets in postseason
The Atlanta Braves are headed to the playoffs for a seventh straight year. The Braves secured the final wild-card spot in the National League with their 3-0 win over the Mets in the second game of their Monday makeup doubleheader. It was a win-or-stay-home affair for the Braves at Truist Park. Their taut loss to the Mets in the first game earlier on Monday meant they had to win Game 2 in order to make the postseason. Had they lost that second game, then the Arizona Diamondbacks would've snagged the last berth. Instead, the reigning NL champs are done for 2024.
In that second game, emergency Braves starter Grant Holmes came up huge with four scoreless innings. Marcell Ozuna gave Atlanta some breathing room in the seventh with a two-out, two-RBI single.
Monday's outcomes mean that the Braves will travel to San Diego to face the Padres in their best-of-three NL Wild Card Series. The Mets, meantime, will head to Milwaukee to face the Brewers. Both Games 1s and both AL Game 1s will be on Tuesday, which means no rest for the Braves and Mets.
Looking forward, the Braves have no ideal answers for their Game 1 starter. Ace Chris Sale was a late scratch Monday because of back spasms, and that's not a condition that figures to improve on a cross-country flight. As well, Reynaldo López, who just recently returned from the injured list, pitched in relief on Monday just two days after working six innings against the Royals. As such, the Braves may be forced to turn to Max Fried on short rest.
Whatever those details, however, for now the Braves can exult in once again having made the playoffs – this time despite a crippling rash of injuries that spanned almost the entire season.