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THE MLB has lengthened the season for the first time with less than one week left in the campaign due to a storm.
The final two games of the critical series between the Atlanta Braves and New York Mets at Truist Park were postponed on Wednesday due to heavy rains from Hurricane Helene.
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There will be a doubleheader on Monday, the MLB announced.
The regular season was set to end Sunday but heavy rain hit the Atlanta area Wednesday.
The inclement weather will also hit the region on Thursday.
The Mets and Braves are in a wild-card race and will likely have to wait until Monday to have their playoff fates decided, unless there are changes in the standings.
Entering Wednesday, the 87-70 New York squad controlled the second wild card and had a one-game lead over Atlanta, who were just a half-game behind the 87-71 Arizona Diamondbacks, for the third wild-card spot.
Two of those teams will make the playoffs.
The Mets play three games against the Milwaukee Brewers and the Braves have a weekend series versus the Kansas City Royals, who’s also a playoff contender.
“We’ve got to move on to the next series now,” New York manager Carlos Mendoza said, per ESPN.
“We’re facing another really good team in Milwaukee and we’ve got to go out there and not only win a series, but we’ve got to go out there and take care of business.
“That’s the only thing we can do: control the things we control.”
The doubleheader on Monday will be scheduled to begin at 1:10 pm Eastern and Game 2 will begin 40 minutes after the conclusion of Game 2.
Atlanta beat the Mets 5-1 on Tuesday night in the opening game of the division-rival series.
The playoffs will start on Tuesday -with the Wild Card Series in the AL and AL.
The scheduling situation comes as the MLB has a new postseason schedule.
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Among the new additions is flexibility for an earlier start to the World Series if the league champion series finishes early.
That means there won’t be a longer break for the two pennant winners.
The World Series is set to start on October 25, with a potential Game 7 taking place on November 2.
However, if both the ALCS and NLCS are decided within five games, the World Series will begin on October 22 and a Game 7 would happen on October 30.
In that scenario, the postseason would end before the start of November for the first since 2020.
