Mets, Yankees and Guardians Fight for Postseason Position

“It’s where you want to be, you’d rather be here than somewhere else,” Atlanta Manager Brian Snitker told reporters after Tuesday’s win at Oakland. “You want to be in the thick of the thing.”

Both teams won afternoon games on Wednesday, keeping the division tied, but the Mets got back on top by half a game, at least for one night, with a 10-0 win over the Pirates in the second game of a doubleheader in Pittsburgh.

For the Mets, who got some additional bad news when the starting pitcher Max Scherzer was placed on the 15-day injured list on Wednesday, this does not really qualify as a collapse. Since Aug. 12, they are a respectable but frustrating 14-12, having won a series against the mighty Dodgers, while mixing in some losses against lesser teams. But that has coincided with a stretch in which Atlanta has gone 20-5.

The good news for both teams is that they are going to the postseason. While ESPN rated both teams’ chances of qualifying for a spot at a relatively conservative 99.9 percent through Tuesday, FanGraphs did not hesitate at all, giving both a 100 percent chance. FanGraphs also listed the teams as having the second (Mets) and third (Atlanta) best odds of winning the World Series.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/07/sports/baseball/mets-yankees-division-races.html