Sep 27, 2024 - News

Diamondbacks battling for Wild Card spot as regular season nears end

Jeremy Duda

Corbin Carroll slides into third base with his arms outstretched. — With three games left in the season, Corbin Carroll and the Arizona Diamondbacks are fighting for a National League Wild Card spot. Photo: Norm Hall/Getty Images

It's coming down to the wire for the Arizona Diamondbacks, who are fighting for a playoff spot and a chance to defend their National League crown.

The big picture: With three games left in the regular season, Arizona is tied with the New York Mets for second place in the NL Wild Card standings. The D-Backs have a 73% chance of making the playoffs, according to ESPN.

The Atlanta Braves are in fourth place by one game.
The San Diego Padres lead the Wild Card race by 3 games.

What's next: Arizona begins its final three-game series Friday against the surging Padres, who have won 7 of their last 10.

Starting pitcher Merrill Kelly, who's gone 5-0 in 12 starts during this injury-shortened season, will be on the mound Friday.
Meanwhile, the Mets play the Milwaukee Brewers, who have clinched the NL Central, and the Braves play the Kansas City Royals, who are close to clinching an American League Wild Card spot.

The intrigue: Wednesday and Thursday games between the Braves and Mets were postponed due to Hurricane Helene, and were rescheduled for a Monday doubleheader in Atlanta.

That means we might not know the full playoff picture until everyone else is finished playing.

Both teams hold the tiebreaker over Arizona, so if the D-Backs end the season tied with either for the final Wild Card spot, they're out.

Catch up quick: The D-Backs stunned the baseball world last season by reaching the World Series for the second time in franchise history, losing to the Texas Rangers in five games.

After a slow start, Arizona caught fire midway through this season.

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Diamondbacks battling for Wild Card spot as regular season nears end

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