A baseball day for the history books ended as many expected – the Atlanta Braves and New York Mets split a doubleheader to qualify for the playoffs – but the drama on the field and the latest news from it made it good for what Braves manager Brian Snitker called a “roller coaster ride.”

The Mets won a dramatic Game 1 8-7, with some wild swings and collisions by both teams’ closers. The Braves had a 3-0 lead, the Mets fought back with a 6-run top of the eighth inning, the Braves retook the lead 7-6 in the bottom of the eighth inning, and then the Mets took the lead for good, as Francisco Lindor hit a two-run home run in the top of the ninth and casually dawdled around the bases.

In the 40 minutes between games one and two, Braves general manager Alex Anthopoulos told reporters that Braves ace Chris Sale had been missed from his scheduled start in Game 2 due to back spasms. About an hour before Game 1 began, Sale went into Snitker’s office to give him the bad news.

Sales’ replacement and eventual Game 2 hero for the Braves was Grant Holmes (4 innings, 1 hit, 0 runs, 7 strikeouts), a 2014 first-round pick who made his big league debut this season after had played 10 seasons in the minor leagues. Holmes was limited to 53 pitches on Monday after throwing 1⅔ innings against the Royals on Sunday.

“If I had known last night that Sale was going to be cut, I wouldn’t have pitched Grant last night,” Snitker said after the game. Holmes and a patchwork pitching staff helped the Braves secure their seventh straight playoff berth.

The Mets travel to Milwaukee for a game against the Brewers at 5:30 p.m. ET, while the Braves fly to San Diego to face the Padres tomorrow night at 8:30 p.m. ET.

The biggest question after the game was NL announcing the availability of Triple Crown winner Sale for the next round. Manager Brian Snitker is not optimistic. When Snitker was asked after the game if Sale would be available in the next round, he said: “I don’t think so. No. No.”

The Braves used almost every pitching option available to them. Starter Reynaldo Lopez pitched a scoreless inning on a rest day and starter Max Fried told Snitker he would be ready in case of emergency. Relievers Joe Jimenez and Raisel Iglesias played in both games. When asked how this all-hands-on-deck approach of recent days would impact his playoff pitching staff, Snitker hadn’t gotten that far yet.

“We have four hours to figure it out,” he said. “I don’t know.”

Sale hadn’t pitched since Sept. 19, when his velocity faded in the second half of a start in Cincinnati; His speed dropped to an average of 92.7 mph from 95.9 in his previous start.

“There were days when he showed up and everything was fine,” Snitker said. “We said we would just wait for an elimination game.”

Then, at midday Monday, the Braves realized Sale wouldn’t be ready.

“He takes care of it,” Snitker said. “He knows how to handle it…he said he’s had it off and on all year.”

Sale adds to the injury news for Atlanta in a season in which Spencer Strider, Ronald Acuna Jr., Austin Riley and AJ Minter are out for the playoffs, while Ozzie Albies and Michael Harris miss extended periods of the regular season.

Albies was the star of the Braves offense on Monday, getting on base five times, driving in five runs and scoring two more times in both games. He’s batting exclusively right-handed for the first time in his professional career after returning from a broken left wrist earlier this month.

“As the day went on I started to feel more and more comfortable…it’s definitely different (right to right) when a guy is throwing 95-plus.”