In order to keep the New York Mets' aspirations of winning the NL East alive for the time being, Brandon Nimmo homered and drove in three runs.
winning game one of a doubleheader against the Washington Nationals 4-2 on Tuesday.
After sweeping a three-game series against the Mets over the weekend, the Atlanta Braves entered the day with a magic number of one for clinching the division.
For the first time since 2015, the Mets must now win their last two games and hope that the Braves lose their final two in Miami.
Otherwise, the Braves would have a bye week and the Mets would host a best-of-three wild-card playoff series this weekend.
The playoff-bound Mets led the division for 175 days, held a 10 1/2-game lead on June 1 and led by seven games on Aug. 12.