ATLANTA — Carlos Mendoza remembered back to the hectic, 10-games-in-10-days road trip in August that included a one-day voyage to St. Louis and tried to shrug away the bizarre weekend-plus awaiting the Mets.
“We’ve been through a lot this year, and this is nothing new for us,” the Mets manager said, sending a no-excuses message that was not quite fully true.
This is new.
“It’s going to be different, that’s for sure,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said.
The Mets-Braves games Wednesday and Thursday were washed out, Wednesday’s because of a steady rain and Thursday’s because Hurricane Helene is set to wreak havoc across Georgia.
The conclusion of the most significant series of the season will be delayed — probably — until Monday, one day after the rest of the MLB season ends and one day before the postseason begins.
As of now, a traditional doubleheader is scheduled to begin at 1:10 p.m. on Monday at Truist Park.
It is possible that after 18 innings of play, one team will fly to Los Angeles, San Diego or Milwaukee to begin a three-game playoff series the following day.
It is also possible that one or both games are not played at all: If the Diamondbacks are eliminated this weekend, it would be at the commissioner’s discretion whether to proceed with the games Monday for seeding purposes.
Arizona beat the Giants 8-2 on Wednesday night and are tied with the Mets and a game ahead of the Braves in the NL wild-card race as the three teams battle for two spots.
The Mets were set to leave Atlanta on Thursday morning, before the hurricane reaches, and head to Milwaukee for three games.
The expectation was Sean Manaea would start Friday, which would set up the club’s ace likely for Game 2 of a wild-card series, but he would not start what could be must-win games against Atlanta.
If the Mets were to follow with David Peterson — who was set to start Wednesday’s game — Peterson would be in line for Game 3.
In play for Sunday and potentially two games Monday would be Jose Quintana, Luis Severino and Tylor Megill.
“We’ll see how the weekend develops,” said Mendoza, who for the first time in over a week penciled in Francisco Lindor as his shortstop before the game was pushed back. “It could be beneficial. A couple guys need an extra day or two. Your bullpen is going to be a little bit fresher.
“But then you got three games in Milwaukee and then potentially two here in one day. I can see the good and the bad.”
How about flying from Milwaukee to Atlanta, having a marathon day of baseball and then rushing possibly to the West Coast for a playoff series beginning the next day?
“If we’re playing a playoff game,” Mendoza said, “that’s a good thing.”
More late-season wrinkles could be coming.
While the Mets were set to escape the Southeast, the Braves are planning on opening a series at home against the Royals on Friday with the city expected to absorb what one meteorologist estimated as 6-10 inches of rain the next few days.
Winds of 70-80 mph are expected to outlast the downpour.
Jeff Hill, with FOX 5 Atlanta, said it would be “pretty tough” to envision the Mets and Braves playing two games Monday after a city with many tall pine trees and plenty of overhead power lines gets ravaged.
And yet, the Braves are supposed to squeeze in three games this weekend.
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“I hope the Royals can get here,” said Snitker, who was set to huddle with his staff to figure out his own pitching plans.
Snitker did not confirm that Chris Sale — his club’s ace who was supposed to start Wednesday — would get the ball Friday.
The club could see a positive in giving the lefty, whose velocity was down in his last outing, a few days extra rest and position him for a playoff series.
Of course, a start Friday would take him out of play for the Monday doubleheader.
“We’re in there talking about all those scenarios,” Snitker said. “We don’t want to get ahead of ourselves because we need to win these games [against the Royals] in order to get in.”
Another potential Braves silver lining would be the ability to bring back Spencer Schwellenbach, who silenced the Mets on Tuesday, for Monday’s doubleheader and pitch the righty twice in a three-game series.
Snitker also saw a potential Mets silver lining: His team was feeling good about itself and now must cool off.
“I really liked where we were at when we left here [Tuesday],” Snitker said. “I said we [were] finally … getting the right guys hot, getting a little momentum, the flow’s going really good. I was like, ‘Man, I wanted to keep rolling with this team through the weekend.’ ”
Instead, a bizarre season will first take a break and then likely grow a little longer.
