SNY
The New York Mets and the Atlanta Braves played one of the greatest baseball games in recent history on Monday, with the Mets winning 8-7 and clinching a postseason berth on the final day of the season in the process.
That game, however, was Game 1 of a doubleheader: after all of the energy and drama and excitement, both teams had to suit up and play another game, which the Braves won 3-0, therefore securing their own postseason berth.
With both teams inside Truist Park celebrating their respective Wild Card bids, SNY cameras caught members of the Mets and Braves mingling and celebrating together, which has ruffled the feathers of some baseball purists on the internet.
Members of the Mets and Braves join up on the field to congratulate each other on making the postseason pic.twitter.com/FISi2s42Vn
— SNY (@SNYtv) September 30, 2024
“Maybe this is a boomer take but this is disgusting. If the Yankees ever had a joint playoff celebration with another AL East team I’d probably have an aneurysm,” said a viral response from a Yankees fan with over 600,000 views.
“I really can’t imagine playing a division rival and not trying to knock them out of the playoffs. This is lame,” bemoaned another baseball fan.
“You can’t convince me they didn’t agree to have the loser of the first game win the second game,” suggested another conspiracy-leaning fan.
Just to touch on the conspiratorial aspect, the loser of the first game was always likely to win the second game given that the winner of Game 1 not only no longer had the incentive to compete to the best of their abilities, but also rest a swathe of starters in preparation for today’s Wild Card opener (which is exactly what the Mets did).
With their win over the Braves in Game 1 and loss in Game 2, the Mets qualified for the playoffs and will head to Milwaukee to take on the Brewers in the Wild Card round, beginning with Game 1 on Tuesday, October 1 at 5:32 p.m. EST. This is just the 11th in the Mets’ 62-year history that they’ve qualified for the postseason.
The Braves, by losing Game 1 and winning Game 2, also qualified for the Wild Card round, which will see them head cross-country to San Diego to take on the Padrees, beginning with Game 1 on Tuesday, October 1 at 8:38 p.m. EST.