The Atlanta Braves and the New York Mets are set to play their most important series of the season from Friday to Sunday.
The NL East is the only division in baseball that is not settled as of Friday afternoon.
The Mets, at 98-58, are just one game ahead of the 97-59 Braves.
However, the weekend series can change the fate of the division, especially if the Braves, who will play at home, manage to sweep.
Both squads have understood just how important the series is: the division winner will earn a first-round playoff bye, and the loser will start risking elimination sooner, in the Wild Card round.
The teams have their best pitchers ready to take the ball for the pivotal weekend.
“The probable starters for this weekend’s huge series in Atlanta,” SNY Mets tweeted.
The probable starters for this weekend's huge series in Atlanta 👇 pic.twitter.com/cg322egZvN
— SNY Mets (@SNY_Mets) September 30, 2022
The Series Will Have Some Elite Pitching Duels
Jacob deGrom will take the ball for the Mets on Friday night, against Max Fried of the Braves.
The former has a 2.93 ERA and a minuscule 1.74 Fielding Independent Pitching (FIP) in 58.1 innings; while the latter is sporting a 2.50 ERA in 180.1 frames.
The Max Scherzer vs. Kyle Wright duel features a pitcher with a 2.13 ERA (Scherzer) and another one with 20 wins and a 3.18 ERA (Wright).
For Sunday, the Mets are sending the steady Chris Bassitt (3.27 ERA in 179 frames) and the Braves will go with veteran Charlie Morton (4.29 ERA).
The “worst” statistical pitcher of the bunch, Morton, has two World Series championships and loads of postseason experience.
It will be an incredibly exciting matchup even for neutral fans.
Mets and Braves fans, on the other hand, will likely be too nervous to feel any excitement.
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