Mother Nature does Mets a favor with potential rainouts for Braves series

The final week of the 2024 MLB regular season is coinciding with hurricane season in the eastern part of the country. As Hurricane Helene makes its way up the Gulf of Mexico, it is probably going to result in a rainout or two in the penultimate series of the season between the Atlanta Braves and the visiting New York Mets. Atlanta took Game 1 on Tuesday night 5-1, but might have to wait a bit to play again.

Even though the cyclone itself is not going to make its way up to the Metro Atlanta area in physical sense, the rain it is bringing with it up from The Gulf is going to impact this series one way or another. Atlanta and New York, along with the Arizona Diamondbacks are competing for the two remaining wild card spots in the NL postseason after the San Diego Padres punched their ticket late Tuesday night.

Atlanta still has three more games left at home vs. the fading Kansas City Royals, while the Mets still have one more road series after this vs. the Milwaukee Brewers. Should Games 2 and 3 of this penultimate series get delayed until Monday, that might help injured infielder Francisco Lindor be healthy enough to make an impact. He has been dealing with back issues for the last few weeks.

New York is one game ahead of Atlanta in the NL standings, with Arizona half a game behind the Mets.

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Mother Nature might help the New York Mets in their postseason push

As it stands now, Atlanta's next four games at Truist Park slated for Tuesday though Saturday will begin at 7:20 p.m. ET. The series finale vs. the Royals on Sunday will commence at 3:20 p.m. ET. Obviously, MLB will try to get both of these games in if it can, as nobody would want for their to be a double-header on Monday between the Braves and the Mets with the NLWCS beginning on Tuesday.

The good news for the Braves is this may allow Chris Sale to pitch more than once the rest of the season. He is the favorite to win the NL Cy Young, as he leads in each Triple Crown category. And unless the weather is truly awful, the Braves don't have to go anywhere. New York still has to play in Milwaukee this weekend and may need to come back to Atlanta if the Wild Card race is not decided.

Ultimately, getting Lindor back will be huge for the Mets down the stretch. Giving him more time to deal with his lingering back pain is a big plus. However, the Mets may need him to do more than merely pinch hit off the bench. Every game is precious the rest of the way. New York needs to take advantage of the Diamondbacks sliding, as well as show the Braves what they are made of as well.

At least one of these two teams will be playing in October, but it would be wild if both made it in, too.