ATLANTA — All summer long, one massive series kept looming on the schedule.
Three games between the Mets and Braves in Atlanta during the final week of the season. With the NL East rivals locked in a heated wild-card race, surely it would come down to their head-to-head matchup.
And here we are.
“We knew it a couple of weeks ago: That series was probably going to help decide this thing. We know what we’re up against and we know what we have to do," Atlanta catcher Sean Murphy said. “It just comes down to us. If we win, we’re in.”
Indeed, if the banged-up Braves are going to earn a seventh straight playoff berth, they’ll need a big performance at home.
And if the surprising Mets are going to finish this postseason push, they can do it by toppling a familiar nemesis.
On the line at Truist Park, nothing less than legacies — and a chance to play in October.
“I’m stoked for the opportunity,” said New York slugger Pete Alonso, set to become a free agent after the World Series.
With six regular-season games remaining, both teams were off Monday heading into their series opener Tuesday night. New York (87-69) is a half-game ahead of Arizona (87-70) for the second of three National League wild cards, while the Braves (85-71) trail the Diamondbacks by 1 1/2 games for the last playoff spot.
The Mets and Braves have split 10 meetings this year, so the winner of their three-game set holds the season-series tiebreaker if they finish with the same record.
New York knows two wins in Atlanta would clinch a playoff appearance. But a sweep by the Braves puts them in the driver's seat going into the last weekend of the season.
It's reminiscent of two years ago, when the Mets arrived in Atlanta for the penultimate series of the season leading the NL East by one game over the Braves. Atlanta swept their three-game set, securing a tiebreaker that decided the division title days later when both clubs finished 101-61 en route to early playoff exits.
It was the fifth of six consecutive NL East crowns for the Braves, a streak that ended last Friday when they were eliminated from a division race won Monday night by Philadelphia. But they still control their own wild-card fate, despite a barrage of injuries to All-Star players that has hindered them all year.
“I already feel like I’m playing postseason games," closer Raisel Iglesias said. "We just need to remain patient and play our game.”
Both teams made rotation adjustments to line up their pitching for the series.
New York right-hander Luis Severino (11-6, 3.79 ERA) starts the opener against rookie Spencer Schwellenbach (7-7, 3.61), who dominated the Mets in a 4-0 win July 27.
Atlanta ace Chris Sale (18-3, 2.38), the NL Cy Young Award favorite, goes in the second game against fellow lefty David Peterson (9-3, 3.08). And then a streaking Sean Manaea (12-5, 3.29) faces Braves stalwart Max Fried (10-10, 3.42), another matchup of southpaws.
In a questionable move, the Mets decided to skip veteran lefty Jose Quintana (10-9, 3.74) in favor of Severino and Peterson. Quintana has allowed one earned run over 32 innings in his last five outings, winning the past four.
Adding to the intrigue is the uncertain status of Francisco Lindor. A contender for NL MVP, the star shortstop has played only one inning over the past nine games because of back pain.
But the Mets just completed a 6-1 homestand without him, thanks in no small part to some valuable contributions from 22-year-old substitute Luisangel Acuña — a younger brother of Braves slugger Ronald Acuña Jr., the reigning NL MVP.
Called up from the minors on Sept. 14, Luisangel Acuña is batting .379 with three homers, six RBIs, six runs, six extra-base hits and a 1.228 OPS in his first nine major league games.
Ronald Acuña Jr. won't play in the series after sustaining a season-ending knee injury in May. But he told Luisangel in a congratulatory text message last week that he's looking forward to swapping jerseys in Atlanta.
“I'll be honest, I wasn't expecting to be here a couple weeks ago,” Luisangel Acuña said through a translator. “He's excited for me to get there, but at the end of the day we want to win.”
The rivalry between these franchises runs deep for decades, with Hall of Famers such as Mike Piazza,Chipper Jones and Bobby Cox at the center of some memorable moments.
But it has mostly been one-sided.
New York challenged the Braves atop the NL East a few times during their record run of 14 straight division titles from 1991-2005, only to fall short.
Piazza and the Mets pushed the 1999 NLCS back to Atlanta on Robin Ventura's grand slam-single at Shea Stadium, then watched Kenny Rogers walk home the series-winning run in Game 6.
And so, for a team chasing its first World Series championship since 1986, finally upending the Braves when it matters most would signal to afflicted Mets fans the promise of coming success under new president of baseball operations David Stearns and impressive rookie manager Carlos Mendoza.
Another flop? Maybe same old Mets — fair or not.
Following this series, Atlanta finishes the season with three games at home against Kansas City, caught up in a close race of its own for an American League wild card.
Edwin Díaz and the resurgent Mets visit NL Central champion Milwaukee, which might be locked into the No. 3 playoff seed by then.
Since falling 11 games under .500 on May 29, New York has the best record in the majors at 65-36.
“Our goal is to get back here and be playing playoff baseball in October. There’s a lot of hoops to get through in order to do that," outfielder Brandon Nimmo said. "We have to take care of business and be present in the situation, otherwise it will not happen. But that is the goal — to bring October baseball, playoff baseball, back here to New York.”
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AP Baseball Writer Ronald Blum and AP freelance writers Jerry Beach and Santos Perez contributed to this report.
