Matchups to watch for the 2024 playoff push
It’s not often that we get a final week of the MLB regular season with this much at stake — and with this many of the teams in the mix playing each other. Unlike over the weekend, several of this week’s head-to-head matchups feature games with teams battling for a playoff spot, fighting for playoff seeding or simply trying to stay alive.
All of which meant Tuesday night was the biggest night of the baseball season — so far anyway. Now that we’re in the final days, it creates a playoff-like, must-win intensity to these games. Some knock the expanded playoffs, and it’s a reasonable argument that too many teams get in, but it gives us a fun few nights of must-watch TV.
On Tuesday, I started the evening focused on the Mets-Braves showdown in Atlanta but ended up flipping to various games, tuned into MLB Network’s “MLB Big Inning” (which broadcasts four games simultaneously), had other games on my phone (Mariners-Astros, Angels-White Sox) then closed it out with Padres-Dodgers at Dodger Stadium.
The best part is, we’ll do it all again Wednesday. (Catch the highlights on ESPN2’s “Squeeze Play” show from 7 to 10:30 p.m. ET.) Here are the best matchups ahead of us, plus what we learned from Tuesday’s games.
