ATLANTA — The final two games of a crucial series between the New York Mets and Atlanta Braves were postponed Wednesday by heavy rains ahead of Hurricane Helene.
Now, a wild-card race that seemed headed to the final day of the regular season may require an extra day.
And a doubleheader, at that.
The regular season was set to end Sunday, but the Mets are now scheduled to return to Atlanta on Monday for a pair of games 40 minutes apart that could determine who heads to the playoffs.
New York plays three games in Milwaukee against the NL Central champion Brewers beginning Friday, while the Braves have a weekend series against the Kansas City Royals, a playoff contender in the AL.
“We’ve got to move on to the next series now,” Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said. “We’re facing another really good team in Milwaukee and we’ve got to go out there and not only win a series, but we’ve got to go out there and take care of business. That’s the only thing we can do: control the things we control.”
The Mets (87-70) and Diamondbacks (88-71) are tied in the wild-card race, with the Braves (86-71) a full game back. Two of those teams will make the playoffs, which are set to begin Tuesday with the best-of-three wild-card round.
“I hope the Royals can get here,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said, looking ahead to an ominous forecast for the next two days as the hurricane’s remnants move through Georgia. “I would hope we don’t get things screwed up for their series.”
The Diamondbacks beat the San Francisco Giants8-2 on Wednesday night. Arizona is off Thursday before a three-game series at home against the San Diego Padres to close out the regular season.
The Braves beat the Mets 5-1 on Tuesday night in the opening game of the series against their NL East rivals.
Both teams were off Monday, but there was no indication that the teams or MLB considered moving up the start of the series. Also, there was a missed opportunity to get in Wednesday’s game before heavy rain swept through the area during the afternoon.
Mendoza said he didn’t have discussions with MLB until just before the decision was made to postpone both games at 5:11 p.m. EDT — about two hours before the first pitch Wednesday.
“Look, my job is to manage a team,” he said. “We knew there was weather, but you can’t predict it. We came here [Tuesday], lost a game, and we were ready to play today and we just got a call.”
With the final two games in Atlanta pushed back, the Mets could be facing an especially grueling travel schedule over the next week.
It’s not out of the question that they will fly back to Atlanta for the doubleheader Monday, then hustle to grab another flight — either back to Milwaukee or to the West Coast — for the start of the wild-card series on Tuesday should they make the playoffs.
Then again, they did get a couple of unplanned off days before that final stretch.
“I mean, it could be beneficial,” Mendoza said. “A couple of guys needing an extra day or two and your bullpen is going to be a little bit fresher.”
There is a chance the doubleheader would not be needed if the playoff race is settled by Sunday, but Mendoza wasn’t sure if there was a contingency plan.
“I’m not going to get too far ahead,” he said. “Right now, we’ve just got to concentrate on the next series.”
ARLINGTON, Texas — Veteran right-hander Jesse Chavez has agreed to a minor league contract that includes an invitation to spring training with the Texas Rangers, the team that drafted the 41-year-old pitcher nearly 23 years ago.
The Rangers also on Monday signed right-hander David Buchanan, outfielder Cody Thomas and catcher Chad Wallach to minor league deals with invitations to big league spring training.
Chavez was 2-2 with a 3.13 ERA in 46 games last season for Atlanta. He has a 51-65 record with a 4.25 ERA in 653 career games (85 starts) over 17 seasons with nine different teams. He was a World Series champion in 2021 with the Braves.
Texas took Chavez in the 42nd round of the 2002 amateur draft, and traded him four years later to Pittsburgh, where he made his big league debut in 2008.
He was 6-6 with a 4.58 ERA in 96 games (nine starts) for the Rangers from 2018-20. He signed with Texas as a free agent before the 2018 season, was traded to the Chicago Cubs later that summer and then re-signed with Texas in free agency before the 2019 season.
The 35-year-old Buchanan made one relief appearance for Cincinnati last season, his first MLB game since 36 starts for Philadelphia from 2014-15 until pitching three seasons in Japan and four in Korea.
Wallach hit seven home runs in 65 games for the Los Angeles Angels in 2023, and spent all of last season with their Triple-A team. Thomas, a left-handed hitter who played in 29 games for Oakland in 2022 and 2023, hit .263 with two homers and 19 RBI in 79 games in Japan last year.
ARLINGTON, Texas — The Texas Rangers have created a new company to oversee production and distribution of their game broadcasts.
The MLB team on Monday unveiled the Rangers Sports Media & Entertainment Company. That company will include the new Rangers Sports Network (RSN) and the existing REV Entertainment that is the team’s official sports and entertainment partner and official booking agent for events at its current and former stadiums.
“One of the main goals when seeking solutions for Rangers television broadcasts was to give fans more access to our games,” Rangers majority owner Ray Davis said. “We determined that the best path toward providing our fans with more options is to handle many of the broadcast obligations in-house.”
The Rangers earlier this month entered into a multiyear agreement with A Parent Media Co. Inc. (APMC) to stream Rangers regional games directly to consumers on the Victory+ service starting this year. The team said then that service, which will cost $100 to access games for a full season, was the first step in providing multiple viewing options after several seasons of access issues, but still hasn’t revealed details about additional options.
Formation of the Rangers Sports Network comes before the anticipation of deals for local TV rights to have games air through traditional cable providers along with some limited over-the-air broadcasts. The Rangers have more than 16 million households in their broadcast territory over parts of five states.
Neil Leibman, who is part of the team’s ownership group, will be chairman of the Rangers Sports Media & Entertainment Company, relinquishing his previous team responsibilities as COO and president of business operations. Jim Cochrane, a 28-year veteran of the Rangers front office, was promoted to executive vice president and chief business officer.
The Rangers previously had their regional broadcasts on Bally Sports Southwest, part of the financially troubled Diamond Sports Group that went through a bankruptcy reorganization. The team’s deal with Diamond expired at the end of last season. Bally Sports Southwest was not available through some cable companies and many popular streaming platforms.
BALTIMORE — The Baltimore Orioles agreed to terms with Dylan Carlson on a $975,000, one-year contract Monday, a couple of months after the outfielder was non-tendered by the Tampa Bay Rays.
Carlson was a first-round draft pick in 2016 by the St. Louis Cardinals, and he hit 18 home runs in his first full season in 2021. Since then, however, he’s hit only 16.
Carlson hit .209 with three home runs and 25 RBIs in 96 games for the Cardinals and Rays in 2024, but at age 26 the switch-hitter may still have some upside and can play all three outfield spots.
