New York Mets and Atlanta Braves Secure Final MLB Playoff Spots

The 2024 Major League Baseball playoff bracket has been finalized, with the New York Mets and Atlanta Braves clinching the last two postseason berths on Monday. Both teams finished their regular seasons with identical 89-73 records, along with the Arizona Diamondbacks, but emerged victorious in the tiebreakers to advance.

The Braves will enter the postseason as the No. 5 seed and are scheduled to face the San Diego Padres in the National League Wild Card Series. Meanwhile, the Mets secured the No. 6 seed and will compete against the Milwaukee Brewers. Both teams’ advancements came following a decisive split in a doubleheader held in Atlanta.

In the American League, the wild card lineup sees the Houston Astros hosting the Detroit Tigers, while the Baltimore Orioles will play against the Kansas City Royals. The New York Yankees and Cleveland Guardians, the top two seeds in the AL, have secured byes and will be entering the fray in the divisional round.

The Dodgers, boasting the best record in baseball, have earned the top seed in the National League and will enjoy home-field advantage throughout the playoffs. The Philadelphia Phillies, being the second seed, will also receive a first-round bye.

MLB announced that the Wild Card Series games, all hosted by the higher seeds, will commence on Tuesday, October 1, and are expected to conclude by Thursday, October 3. Subsequent rounds include the League Division Series (LDS), beginning on Saturday, October 5, and the League Championship Series (LCS), starting on Sunday, October 13. The highly anticipated World Series is slated to start on either Tuesday, October 22, or Friday, October 25.

“The playoff format is designed to maintain the competitiveness and unpredictability of the postseason,” remarked an MLB spokesperson. This structure has historically allowed wild card teams to make significant runs deep into the postseason, as evidenced over the past two years.

The current playoff format grants an advantage to wild card teams, offering the possibility for lower-seeded squads to advance far, continuing a trend seen in recent seasons where three of the four last World Series contenders started in the wild card round.