ATLANTA — Carlos Mendoza remembered a whirlwind 10-game, 10-day August road trip that included a day trip to St. Louis and tried to make it through more than just the strange weekend that awaited the Mets.
“We've been through a lot this year, but this is nothing new for us,” the Mets manager said, sending a no-excuses message that wasn't entirely true.
This is new.
“It's certainly going to be a different outcome,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said.
The Mets-Braves games on Wednesday and Thursday were canceled due to persistent rain on Wednesday and Hurricane Helen expected to wreak havoc across Georgia on Thursday.
The conclusion of the season's most important series will likely be postponed until Monday, the day after the remainder of the MLB season ends and before the postseason begins.
As of now, the traditional doubleheader is scheduled to begin at 1:10pm on Monday at Truist Park.
After the 18-inning game, either team could fly to Los Angeles, San Diego or Milwaukee to begin a three-game playoff series the next day.
It's also possible that one or both games won't be played at all. If the Diamondbacks, who entered Wednesday holding the third-to-last wild-card spot (half a game behind the Braves and half a game behind the Mets), lose this weekend, it would be up to the commissioner's discretion whether to continue with Monday's games to determine seeding.
The Mets were scheduled to leave Atlanta on Thursday morning, before the hurricane reached the area, for a three-game trip to Milwaukee.
Sean Manaea is expected to start Friday, and the team's star will likely play in Game 2 of the wild-card series, but he won't start in the must-win game against Atlanta.
If the Mets use David Peterson, who was scheduled to start Wednesday night, he would likely start Game 3 as well.
Jose Quintana, Luis Severino and Tyler Megill are the three players set to play in Sunday's game and possibly the two games on Monday.
“We'll see how the weekend goes,” said Mendoza, who had decided to use Francisco Lindor at shortstop for the first time in more than a week before the game was postponed. “That could be beneficial. A couple of guys need an extra day or two. The bullpen will get a little bit better.”
“But three games in Milwaukee and potentially two games in one day here. You see the pros and cons.”
Why not fly from Milwaukee to Atlanta, watch baseball all day, then rush off to the West Coast for a playoff series starting the next day?
“If we can get into the playoffs, that's a good thing,” Mendoza said.
Further problems could arise later in the season.
While the Mets make their escape from the Southeast, the Braves are scheduled to open their series at home against the Royals on Friday with one meteorologist predicting 6 to 10 inches of rain in the city over the next few days.
Winds of 70 to 80 mph are expected to continue following the heavy rains.
FOX 5 Atlanta's Jeff Hill said it's “pretty hard” to imagine the Mets and Braves playing two games on Monday after the devastation in a city filled with tall pine trees and overhead power lines.
Still, the Braves are scheduled to play three games this weekend.
“I'm hopeful the Royals can get there,” said Snitker, who planned to meet with his staff to work out plans for his pitching staff.
Snitker declined to confirm whether starting pitcher Chris Sale, who was scheduled to start Wednesday, would take the mound on Friday.
The team may be hoping to benefit from giving the left-hander a few days of rest after his velocity dropped in his last outing and preparing him for the playoff series.
Of course, if he starts on Friday, that means he will miss Monday's doubleheader.
“We're talking about all scenarios,” Snitker said. “We need to win these games, so we don't want to get ahead of ourselves. [against the Royals] To get in.”
Another ray of hope for the Braves is that they will have Spencer Schwellenbach back for Monday's doubleheader, after he silenced the Mets on Tuesday, and the right-hander will pitch twice in the three-game series.
Snitker also saw a silver lining for the Mets: The team is in good form and now they just need to calm down.
“When we left here, we really loved where we were. [Tuesday]” Snitker said. “I [were] Finally… the right guys were in shape, we had some momentum, we were in a really good flow. I was like, 'Oh man, I want to keep riding with this team this weekend.'”
Instead, the weird season may go on hiatus at first and then extend for a bit longer.
