What to watch on the final weekend of the MLB season

Travis d'Arnaud hit the biggest home goal of the season for the Atlanta Braves. New York Mets fans are in a panic. Paul Skenes delivered two more scoreless innings, capping his impressive rookie season with a 1.96 ERA. Saturday is fixed. We still have a full day of the regular season left to go – plus the Braves-Mets doubleheader on Monday.

Here's what to watch, starting with the National League wild-card race, where the Braves now hold a one-game lead over the Mets and Arizona Diamondbacks as the three teams battle for two spots.

New York Mets at Milwaukee Brewers

The Brewers defeated the Mets 6-0 on Saturday, snapping the Mets' first three-game losing streak since August 11th. When the Braves later defeated the Royals 2-1, the Mets fell behind the Braves in the standings for the first time since September 4th.

The Mets start David Peterson on Sunday. The left-hander has allowed five runs in two of his last three starts, although he has been generally effective since July with a 2.90 ERA in his last 15 starts. The Brewers are tied to the third seed and will surely rest all of their top backup players as they prepare for Tuesday's wild-card series. Colin Rea gets the start for Milwaukee, but expect a heavy bullpen game with the secondary relievers calling the shots.

The Mets used their top three starters in this series: Sean Manaea on Friday, Jose Quintana on Saturday and now Peterson. That means Luis Severino and Tylor Megill are the likely starters for Monday's doubleheader. The Braves have a right-heavy lineup and an OPS that is nearly 70 points higher than lefties, so the Mets will have at least their two right-handed starters on Monday.

Kansas City Royals at Atlanta Braves

The Braves beat the Royals on d'Arnaud's walk-off home run. Reynaldo Lopez returned from the injured list and made his first start for Atlanta since September 10, allowing just two hits and one run in six innings. The 2024 All-Star finished the season with a 2.00 ERA in 25 starts (though he didn't pitch enough innings to qualify for the ERA title).

The Braves' gamble in waiting until absolutely necessary to start likely Cy Young winner Chris Sale has paid off. The sale could have begun Friday, but the Braves said they would hold him until he potentially opts out. With a one-game lead in the wild-card race, the earliest that could now come is the second game of the doubleheader against the Mets. The best-case scenario, of course, is that they get the win before using Sale and have him ready for Game 1 of the Wild Card Series.

On Saturday evening, manager Brian Snitker said the team had not yet decided on a Sunday starter. Charlie Morton would be the starter with the most rest, but the Braves may want to save him for the Mets. That could leave Grant Holmes facing a struggling offense in Kansas City.

Also remember: The Braves lead the season series over the Mets 6-5, meaning the tiebreaker between the two teams is still open.

San Diego Padres at Arizona Diamondbacks

The Padres defeated the Diamondbacks 5-0 on Saturday – the second shutout in four games for Arizona's powerful attack and their fifth loss in six games as a wild-card spot that seemed fairly secure a week ago suddenly appears in jeopardy is. In fact, the key here is that the Diamondbacks lose the tiebreaker to both the Mets and Braves.

Sunday now seems to be a must for Arizona. If they lose again, a Mets win on Sunday or in Monday's doubleheader would eliminate the Diamondbacks.

While Zac Gallen will start the wild card opener after pitching on Wednesday, Brandon Pfaadt will face Martin Perez on Sunday. Pfaadt has been pretty unconventional lately, getting knocked out in the third inning of his last start and the second inning two starts ago, but was sandwiched in a 12-strikeout game.

American League wild card

Much of that was clarified Friday night: First, in front of a boisterous crowd of 44,435 fans at Comerica Park, the Tigers defeated the White Sox 4-1, winning their sixth straight game and clinching their first playoff berth since 2014. They were with them tied with the Angels for the longest active playoff drought in the majors.

The Royals returned to their first postseason since 2015 when the Twins lost.

The Orioles secured fourth place by defeating Minnesota. The Tigers are one game ahead of the Royals for the fifth seed, but the Royals retain the tiebreaker in case they finish with the same record. The fifth seed will play in Baltimore, while the sixth seed will play in the wild card series in Houston (the higher seed gets all home games). The good news for the Tigers and Royals is that they can save Tarik Skubal and Cole Ragans for the first games of the wild-card series instead of having to start them on Sunday.

Fight for the best record and the best seed

• The Dodgers secured both first place in the NL and first place overall (the fourth time in eight seasons the Dodgers finished with the best MLB record). This makes the Phillies number 2 in the Netherlands.

• Despite a 9-4 loss to the Pirates in which Luis Gil hit four home runs, the Yankees clinched first place in the AL following the Guardians' loss, sending Cleveland to No. 2.

• The numbers 5 and 6 in both leagues are still unclear. The Tigers have a one-game lead over the Royals in the AL, but the Royals will retain the tiebreaker if they finish with the same record.

The Shohei Ohtani watch…continues

The man isn't slowing down? Did you think we were done with the Ohtani milestones after he hit 50/50? Absolutely not. In Saturday's blowout win over Colorado, he went 2 for 5 with 58 stolen bases – his 35th consecutive stolen base without being caught. Going back to his 6-for-6 game, he's an incredible 26-for-39, a .667 average.

What can he do if he plays on Sunday? He has 99 extra-base hits; The last players to reach 100 did it in 2001. And the Triple Crown is in play. Ohtani increased his average to .310. League leader Luis Arraez did not play on Saturday and remains at .314. It will be interesting to see if Arraez stays at his .314 average again and forces Ohtani to have a big day to catch up to him.

If Ohtani wins 4 out of 5, he would hit .31397. Arraez is currently at .31388.

Other statistical races in the game

• Can Aaron Judge hit 60 home runs? Judge was back in the lineup Saturday after an off day but went 0-for-5 with five strikeouts. This dropped his slugging percentage to .701 as he attempts to become the first player since Barry Bonds in 2004 to post a .700 slugging percentage. The last player to achieve this outside of the 1994-2004 window was Ted Williams in 1957.

• Ohtani has already passed 400 total bases, the first time since 2001. Judge is at 392, so it would probably take a two-homer finale to get there.

• Bobby Witt Jr. now appears to have a shot at the AL batting title. He held the lead all summer, and when he peaked with a .352 average on August 16, he had a comfortable 19-point lead over Judge (and 33 points over Vladimir Guerrero Jr.). After Saturday's elimination, Witt remained at .332, but Vladimir Guerrero Jr. went 0-4 to .324, while Judge lost .322 (also eliminating his chance at a Triple Crown).

• Jose Ramirez hit his 39th home run on Saturday and therefore needs one more to join the exclusive 40/40 club, which has only six members: Ohtani, Ronald Acuna Jr. (2023), Alfonso Soriano (2006), Alex Rodriguez (1998), Barry Bonds (1996) and Jose Canseco (1998).

• Cardinals' Ryan Helsley has 49 saves; 50 saves were made 17 times, the last by Edwin Diaz in 2018.

take farewell

Joey Votto, who didn't play in the majors this season after signing a minor league contract with the Blue Jays, announced his retirement a few weeks ago and his next stop will ultimately be a Hall of Fame plaque in Cooperstown . Two long-time outfielders have also officially announced their retirement at the end of the season:

• Los Angeles Dodgers CF Kevin Kiermaier: It is not clear whether Kiermaier will be added to the Dodgers' playoff roster as a backup outfielder (he has a .164 batting average with the Dodgers and started just two games in September) , so this could be one of the best defensive midfielders of all time. Yes, always. Kiermaier won four Gold Gloves and displayed incredible lateral reach during his heyday with the Tampa Bay Rays. His 38 defensive runs saved in 2015 are the best total for a centerfielder in a season since DRS began in 2003, and his career total of 173 is the most of any outfielder since 2003 (and the third-most at any position, only behind Andrelton Simmons). and Adrian Beltre). Kiermaier's defensive excellence is reflected in his career WAR of 36.1. Not bad for a 31st round pick out of Parkland Community College.

• Colorado Rockies DH/OF Charlie Blackmon: Blackmon has spent his entire 14-year career with the Rockies. It took him a while to establish himself in the big leagues – his first full season didn't come until he was 27 – but he became a four-time All-Star and finished fifth in the 2017 NL MVP voting after leading the league in batting average (.331), hits (213) and runs scored (137). His strength declined after that peak in 2016-2019, but he is one of the most popular players in Rockies history and will finish in the majors with more than 1,800 hits.

There may be a few other veterans playing their final games who have not yet announced their retirement. Matt Carpenter comes to mind here. Kyle Hendricks wants to pitch in 2025 but is heading into free agency and his start Saturday at Wrigley Field will likely be his last after 11 seasons with the Chicago Cubs. Let's hope Andrew McCutchen returns to the Pittsburgh Pirates for another season after putting up solid numbers in 2024. If these guys don't return – thank you for the unforgettable careers.