MLB officially postpones two crucial games between the New York Mets and the Atlanta Braves, one day before Hurricane Helene is expected to make landfall.

The league announced Wednesday that it would postpone the two games and instead play a doubleheader on Monday, one day after the scheduled end of the regular season and one day before the start of the wild-card round.

The doubleheader is scheduled to begin at 1:10 p.m. ET in Atlanta, with the second game starting 40 minutes after the last out of the first game. According to Joel Sherman of the New York Post, the games will only be played if they have playoff implications.

Where Mets and Braves stand after Hurricane Helene postponement

As of Wednesday afternoon, the Mets hold the National League’s second wild-card spot with a record of 87-70, with the Arizona Diamondbacks half a game behind them in third place. The Braves are currently the first team eliminated from the playoffs, half a game behind the D-backs and one game behind the Mets, with five games theoretically still to play.

The Braves beat the Mets 5-1 in the first game of this week’s series. The postponement of the other games could benefit the Mets on the field, as it gives MVP candidate Francisco Lindor a few extra days to get in shape for two games that could decide his team’s playoff fate.

This weekend, the Mets are scheduled to play the Milwaukee Brewers on the road, and the Braves are scheduled to host the Kansas City Royals starting Friday. The outcome of the latter games could also be uncertain, as the National Weather Service is expecting continued heavy rain in Georgia through Friday.

MLB’s move is a last-minute attempt to resolve an issue that has been looming for several days. Had the league and/or its teams moved sooner, they could have rescheduled games so that both the Braves and Mets would have had a Monday off. A doubleheader on Tuesday would also have been feasible.

Instead, the two teams must finish their series on Sunday, use their bullpens for a doubleheader on Monday (assuming the games still matter), and then fly to face potentially the NL’s third or fourth place team, currently held by the Milwaukee Brewers and San Diego Padres, respectively.

Theoretically, the Mets could travel from Milwaukee to Atlanta to San Diego in about 48 hours, playing four games in three time zones.