The Atlanta Braves completed a weekend sweep of the New York Mets to all but clinch their fifth consecutive NL East title after trailing by as many as 10½ games earlier in the season.
Atlanta has a two-game lead – and the head-to-head tiebreaker – entering the final series of the season and its magic number down of one, meaning that a single win or Mets loss will secure the division crown.
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You can count on one hand how many days the Mets weren’t in first place this season, but none of that matters now and it looks like they’ll be relegated to a best-of-three series next weekend as the Braves get a bye to the NLDS.
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Five of baseball’s six wild-card berths have been clinched heading into Monday, with the Phillies’ magic number at one for the third spot in the NL.
Here’s how USA TODAY Sports’ eight-person panel voted this week:
1. Los Angeles Dodgers (–)
2. Houston Astros (–)
3. Atlanta Braves (+2)
4. New York Mets (-1)
5. New York Yankees (-1)
6. St. Louis Cardinals (–)
7. Toronto Blue Jays (–)
8. Cleveland Guardians (–)
9. Tampa Bay Rays (–)
10. San Diego Padres (–)
11. Seattle Mariners (+1)
12. Philadelphia Phillies (-1)
13. Milwaukee Brewers (–)
14. Baltimore Orioles (–)
15. San Francisco Giants (+2)
16. Minnesota Twins (–)
17. Chicago White Sox (-2)
18. Arizona Diamondbacks (+1)
19. Boston Red Sox (-1)
20. Chicago Cubs (+1)
21. Los Angeles Angels (-1)
22. Texas Rangers (+1)
23. Colorado Rockies (-1)
24. Miami Marlins (–)
25. Cincinnati Reds (–)
26. Detroit Tigers (+1)
27. Kansas City Royals (-1)
28. Oakland Athletics (–)
29. Pittsburgh Pirates (–)
30. Washington Nationals (–)
