It might just be the most important series of the weekend taking place in Atlanta.
Starting on Friday night, the New York Mets and the defending World Series champion Atlanta Braves will play a three-game series that will go a long way in determining who will come out on top in the National League East.
After a win over the Miami Marlins for the Mets and a loss to the Washington Nationals for the Braves, New York leads the division by a game with six to go on the schedule.
Mets writer Anthony DiComo details all possible scenarios for this weekend series and what each would mean for the Mets.
In Atlanta, if the Mets win:
3/3: They'll clinch Sunday
2/3: Their effective magic No. would be 1
1/3: They'd control their destiny
0/3: They'd lose the tiebreaker and trail by two with three to playBasically, every outcome is good for the Mets as long as they don't get swept.
— Anthony DiComo (@AnthonyDiComo) September 29, 2022
How The NL East Could Be Won
Basically, as DiComo states, every outcome is satisfactory unless they are swept.
If they lose two out of three, they would be tied with Atlanta heading into the final three games, but would also hold the tiebreaker.
Winning two out of three would have them up two games with a magic number of one to clinch.
A sweep means they clinch the East.
As long as they don’t get swept, then everything appears to bode well for them.
But it is worth remembering that the Mets once led this division by 10.5 games.
The Braves have caught them multiple times, and for the briefest moment, even led the division by a half-game.
A Braves sweep would be the worst possible outcome for New York.
That would put the Braves’ magic number at one and give them a two-game lead with three to go.
They’d also hold the tiebreaker if the Mets rallied to tie them.
There’s a lot on the line this weekend, and we’ll see how everything turns out.
NEXT: The Mets Still Hold An Important Statistical Lead
