NL Wild Card Standings: Mets and Diamondbacks in a fight of inadequacy for last playoff spot

The Atlanta Braves are getting the job done and look poised to take the second NL Wild Card spot. Not official yet, five straight wins including two versus the Kansas City Royals this weekend have given them a huge leg up against the New York Mets and Arizona Diamondbacks. They can send Chris Sale to San Diego already. Their strategy of holding him back looks like it’ll actually pay off. But don’t award them with any academic scholarship or invite them to MENSA. It’s a battle of inadequacy going on right below them.

You don’t need a single finger to count how many runs the Mets and Diamondbacks scored on Saturday. Both teams were shut out by future Wild Card round hosts. Both hopeless lineups could barely muster together anything against pitchers you might not have known much about unless you follow the opponent closely.

Someone needs to take that final Wild Card spot. Odds remain in the Mets’ favor to do so.

How the Mets can earn a playoff spot

All the Mets need to do is match the Diamondbacks win total. Don’t even bother looking at losses. They’re irrelevant. Win as many games as the Diamondbacks and the regular season is over. Currently one behind with 87 victories versus their 88, the easiest solution is for New York to win on Sunday and Arizona to lose.

If both teams win, the Mets go to Atlanta for two chances of 9 innings to come away with one win. They must be able to take at least one of those games, right? The Braves will have to focus on preserving their pitching and keeping position players healthy for the following day when the playoffs officially begin.

A Mets win on Sunday and Diamondbacks loss will allow the Mets to stay put in Milwaukee where they’ll draw the Brewers in the first round. Based on how the Mets have performed in these first two games, they might be better off dealing with the Pfister Hotel ghost in downtown Milwaukee.

How the Mets can lose their playoff spot

What about those other scenarios? If the Diamondbacks win and the Mets lose on Sunday, it’ll be sudden death in the opposite direction for the Mets. They’ll need to win two games in Atlanta. Lose the first and the season is over. It’s the worst possible situation to deal with even if the Braves don’t plan to play their best.

The Mets can also get eliminated if both teams win today. While it would only require one win against the Braves rather than two, let’s make this easy for once. Win on Sunday and ask the Padres to, one last time, hold the Diamondbacks scoreless.

As selfishly as two Mets games in the middle of the day on Monday will be enjoyable, our internal organs need a break. We may still get it even if the Mets do clinch today. A Diamondbacks win and a Braves loss means the Mets are headed to Atlanta.