Chaos in the NL wild card race: Diamondbacks win, Mets-Braves doubleheader is played in full

By Noah Furtado, David O'Brien and Will Sammon

This is maximum chaos. The Arizona Diamondbacks defeated the San Diego Padres 11-2, the New York Mets won 5-0 over the Milwaukee Brewers and the Atlanta Braves lost 4-2 to the Kansas City Royals, meaning the Mets-Braves The doubleheader in Atlanta must continue on Monday to determine the last two wild cards in the National League.

All three teams are currently tied, with the Diamondbacks losing the three-way tiebreaker. Ultimately, the Mets and Braves will directly determine what comes next, with the Diamondbacks serving as spectators to the madness.

For the Mets and Braves, the scenario is the simplest: A win in the doubleheader secures them a spot. But for the Diamondbacks to make it, one of the teams must be defeated in the doubleheader.

This is where things get difficult. The winner of Game 1, whether the Mets or the Braves, would have already punched their ticket and would have less to play for than the loser of Game 1, who would have to win Game 2 to clinch the final spot. This fact could influence whether the winner of Game 1 decides to rest certain position players and pitchers, especially in Game 2.

The Diamondbacks entered Game No. 162 as losers in five of their last six games and needed a win and some help to keep their postseason hopes alive for at least another day. And they got it.

A six-run frame in the fourth catapulted them into a commanding lead that was never seriously threatened. Brandon Pfaadt allowed just one earned run on three hits with nine strikeouts in 5 1/3 innings. And Ketel Marte hit his team-leading 36th home run as one of five multi-hit performers for the Diamondbacks, who finished with 16 hits.

Meanwhile, in Milwaukee, owner Steven Cohen watched Edwin Diaz score a victory before boarding a flight to Atlanta. The Mets' likely starters for Monday are Luis Severino and Tylor Megill.

It was impossible for New York to be eliminated in Milwaukee over the weekend, but they could have gotten the win. Now they have to win at least one game on Monday. There were good signs for the Mets on Sunday; Their offense emerged from a slump, Francisco Lindor looked sharp while continuing to manage his back problem, and David Peterson pitched seven strong innings to save the bullpen.

The Braves, meanwhile, said they would hold projected Cy Young Award winner Chris Sale until a possible elimination game after his velocity dipped a few ticks in his last start. The plan worked perfectly in the first two games of the series, but backfired on Sunday when 40-year-old Charlie Morton, in what could be his last start for Atlanta and before retirement, gave up three runs before recording one out in the first Inning – Allowing a double from Tommy Pham, a single from Bobby Witt Jr. and a three-run home run to Michael Massey.

The Braves will start standout rookie Spencer Wechselbach in the first game of Monday's doubleheader and use Sale in Game 2 if the Mets win the opener. If they don't have to use Sale, the Braves would have him and fellow All-Stars Max Fried and Reynaldo López available for the Wild Card Series.

The Braves had several scoring opportunities on Sunday but missed them; Hitting with runners in scoring position has been a problem for them all season. With a chance to win, they took a 1-9 lead with RISP, including consecutive strikeouts by Ramón Laureano and Sean Murphy in the eighth inning with two runners on base in a two-run game.

They were 1 for 19 with runners in scoring position in the Series, but won the first two games on the strength of excellent leadoff pitches from Fried and López, homers from catchers Murphy and Travis d'Arnaud (walk-off Friday), and a couple costly Royals mistakes. They received no help from Kansas City on Sunday and managed just one extra-base hit, a leadoff home run by Gio Urshela in the third inning.

(Top photo: David J. Griffin / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)