Braves, Mets tied for NL East lead, Wild Card race tightens

The Atlanta Braves and New York Mets are once again tied for the lead in the NL East division after Atlanta pulled out a 5-2 win against Jacob deGrom Friday night. The Braves will face another tough test Saturday in Max Scherzer, but once again, control their own destiny. The race for the final wild card spot remained tight and weather could play a big part over the next couple of days. Below is a look at where the National League’s playoff pictures stands heading into play Saturday.

The Division Race

Atlanta’s 5-2 win Friday gave them their fourth in their last five against the Mets and their second straight win against deGrom. Their one loss during that stretch came against Scherzer who they will see Saturday. Atlanta is 8-9 against New York on the season and needs to win the next two games to capture the tie breaker. If the Braves win one of the next two, then they will need to finish ahead of New York in the standings in order to win the division.

The Wild Card

The Wild Card race in the National League tightened with both the Phillies and the Brewers making up ground on the Padres. San Diego dropped a 3-1 decision at home to the White Sox Friday. They now lead the Phillies by 1.5 games for the second wild card spot. The Phillies got up off the deck with a 5-1 win over the Nationals in the first game of a split doubleheader. The second game was postponed and is scheduled to be played Saturday weather permitting. The Brewers came out on top in a pitcher’s duel in Milwaukee as Corbin Burnes defeated Sandy Alcantara 1-0. Philadelphia enters play Friday with just a half game advantage over the Brewers.

Playoff Picture

The overall playoff picture remains unchanged from Friday, but the two remaining races in the National League tightened again.

The winner of the NL East winner will earn the second seed in the bracket and will receive a first round bye. The runner up will be the top wild card and will be seeded fourth. If the playoffs started today, the Braves would face the Padres in a best-of-three series starting October 7 at Truist Park. The winner of that series would advance to face the Dodgers in the best-of-five NLDS that will get underway on October 11.