ATLANTA β The 2024 season is over for the Arizona Diamondbacks.
The Atlanta Braves bounced back from a stunning loss in the first game of a makeup doubleheader, claiming the last postseason berth with a 3-0 win over the Mets in the nightcap Monday after New York clinched a playoffs trip with an 8-7 victory in the opener.
With three teams in contention for the last two playoff spots in the National League, the Braves faced the Mets in a twin bill squeezed between the scheduled end to the regular season and the start of the Wild Card Series.
The defending NL champion D-backs could only watch from afar and were eliminated as NL East rivals made up a pair of games rained out last week as Hurricane Helene wreaked destruction in the southeastern U.S.
The Diamondbacks needed one team to sweep, so they were pulling for the Mets after they locked up their postseason spot by overcoming a 3-0 deficits of 3-0 in the eighth inning and 7-6 in the ninth to win the opener, going ahead for good on Francisco Lindorβs two-run homer.
The D-backs finish 89-73, the same record with which the Mets and Atlanta ended the regular season, but lost the head-to-head season series tiebreaker to both. So Arizona was eliminated after the Braves won the second game Monday.
The Diamondbacks, a year after appearing in the World Series and winning the NL pennant, couldnβt make it back to the postseason. They are left to lament the final homestand of the season, in which they went 2-4 against the Giants and Padres and were shut out twice.
Their 10-9 loss to the Brewers on Sept. 22 in Milwaukee, a game the Diamondbacks led 8-0 early on, also will linger into the offseason.
Arizona players met at Chase Field for a light workout and to watch the second game of the doubleheader and learn their fate. A celebration of some kind was scheduled if one team swept and opened the door for the D-backs to get into the wild-card round.
Francisco Lindor, left, Jose Iglesias, left center, David Peterson, right center, and Brandon Nimmo, right, celebrate in the dugout after the Mets took the lead in the eighth inning of Mondayβs opener.
Grant Holmes, stepping in after Braves ace Chris Sale was scratched because of back spasms, pitched four scoreless innings in the second game, and Marcell Ozuna gave the Braves some breathing room with a two-run single in the seventh.
Both clubhouses at Truist Park erupted in champagne-spraying celebrations.
With their postseason berth locked up, the Mets added left-hander Joey Lucchesi to the roster to start the second game. The 31-year-old left-hander spent most of the season at Triple-A Syracuse, giving up five runs in 4 1/3 innings in his lone big league appearance before Monday,
He was a totally different pitcher against the Braves, who mightβve still been a bit shellshocked after the way they lost the opener. Lucchesi (0-2) allowed just three hits, including a run-scoring single to Gio Urshela, in a six-inning, 111-pitch outing.
Daybel Hernandez (3-0) earned the win and Raisel Iglesias earned his 34th save in 37 chances.
The Mets could breathe easy after Lindorβs 33rd homer.
New York erased a 3-0 deficit with a six-run eighth, capped by Brandon Nimmoβs two-run homer. The Braves surged back ahead with four runs in the bottom half, as Ozzie Albies delivered a bases-loaded double with two outs for a 7-6 lead.
The Mets werenβt finished. Starling Marte singled with one out off Pierce Johnson (7-5) and Lindor delivered a drive into the Braves bullpen in right-center.
βI got the pitch that I wanted and you never know if the ball is gonna go out or not,β Lindor said. βBut I feel like I got it 100 percent and all I kept saying was, βThank you Jesus.β Weβre one step closer, we got to finish it. Finish, finish, finish, finish.β
Arizonaβs Christian Walker reacts after a pitch call against the Padres on Sunday. The D-backs did not qualify for the MLB postseason.
Edwin DΓaz (6-4) earned the win with a season high 40 pitches despite giving up Albiesβ go-ahead hit, which came after the Mets closer failed to cover first on a play that allowed Jarred Kelenic to reach on a two-out infield hit.
DΓaz demanded to return to the mound for the ninth.
βI donβt care what you say, Iβm going back out,β he recalled telling manager Carlos Mendoza.
The Braves had the potential tying run at second in the ninth, but DΓaz struck out RamΓ³n Laureano and retired Travis dβArnaud on a grounder to shortstop.
New York had lost 77 straight games when trailing by three runs in eighth inning or later since May 17, 2023. DΓaz slammed his glove to the ground and the Mets celebrated briefly behind the mound after becoming their 11th postseason berth in 63 seasons, and the first since 2022.
βHave you ever seen a game like that?β Mets owner Steve Cohen posted on X.
