Braves vs. Mets games postponed due to Hurricane Helene, MLB plans last-minute doubleheader for decisive series

The Atlanta Braves and New York Mets Perhaps the most important series of the 2024 MLB regular season began Tuesday night, with Atlanta winning the first game of the three-game series (ATL 5, NY 1). However, the series will not continue as scheduled on Wednesday and Thursday. Those games were postponed because of the approaching Hurricane Helene, MLB announced Wednesday afternoon. MLB plans to make up both games as part of a back-to-back doubleheader on Monday, one day before the start of the 2024 postseason. The first game begins at 1:10 p.m. ET and the second game begins 40 minutes after the end of the first.

Monday is the day off between the end of the regular season and the Wild Card Series, and the plan is to play games only if they are necessary to decide the postseason race. according to the New York PostThe Mets enter Wednesday's game with a half-game lead over a wild-card spot, and the Braves are a half-game behind the Arizona Diamondbacks for sixth place. Given the tight race for the wild cards, it's likely that at least one of Monday's games will be necessary.

While Helene becomes stronger, the Braves were reportedly more determined to protect their ticket sales for the well-seeded series and did not want to deal with the logistics of rescheduling the game. Although the league could have overruled the home team, officials reportedly decided against it. That was a massive unforced error by MLB. Now the Braves and Mets face a potential postseason terminal dream.

The Mets, for example, have to travel from Atlanta (this week's series) to Milwaukee (this weekend's series), to Atlanta (for Monday's doubleheader), and to the West Coast (for the Wild Card Series) all within six days. Plus, a Monday doubleheader could wreck both pitching teams, and one of those two teams is guaranteed a postseason spot. They may have to go into the Wild Card Series with a loaded bullpen. All of this could have been avoided if MLB had overruled the Braves and moved the games earlier.

Helene could bring 6 to 12 inches of rain, with isolated amounts as much as 18 inches in the Southeast, as well as “catastrophic and potentially life-threatening flash flooding and urban flooding,” according to the National Hurricane Center. Atlanta is in the forecast for heavy rain Wednesday and Thursday as the storm approaches Florida's Gulf Coast. Here's a look at the hourly forecast for Wednesday night and Thursday evening, according to First Alert Weather.

The storm, which was officially upgraded to a hurricane by the NHC on Wednesday, is expected to make landfall in Florida on Thursday as a Category 4 hurricane with winds in excess of 110 mph (177 km/h).

“Damaging and life-threatening hurricane-force winds, especially in gusts, will extend well inland into portions of northern Florida and southern Georgia under hurricane warnings late Thursday and into Thursday night,” the National Hurricane Center said in a 5 p.m. update Wednesday.

Georgia Governor Brian Kemp has already declared a state of emergency. Here's the latest news from CBS News. Below you can see the expected path of the storm.

The MLB is in a tight schedule as the regular season ends on Sunday and The postseason with 12 teams begins on Tuesday, October 1The Mets close the regular season in Milwaukee with a three-game series against the Brewers, while the Braves host the Royals Friday through Sunday (weather permitting).

Current NL Wildcard status

(As of September 25)