The Brewers are creating maximum chaos in NL playoff race coming down to wire

Chaos reigns supreme in the National League wild card race. The Milwaukee Brewers have their postseason berth locked up already, clinching the NL Central and being the first team to secure their playoff bid. Their pursuit of a first round bye fell short and they are locked into the third seed and a home series in the Wild Card round.

Their opponent for the best-of-three series that begins on Tuesday is yet to be determined. There are three teams vying for two spots; the Diamondbacks, Braves, and Mets. Whoever earns the sixth seed will be Milwaukee's opponent in the first round.

There's already chaos in this race as Hurricane Helene postponed two games between the Braves and Mets in Atlanta, forcing a doubleheader planned for Monday, the day before the Wild Card round is set to begin. Because the Brewers won the first two games against New York, they are sowing even more chaos in this race.

After all of Saturday's games concluded, the Braves won, the Mets lost, and the Diamondbacks lost. Atlanta is currently in the 5th seed, the Mets are the 6th seed, and the Diamondbacks are on the outside looking in. Arizona does not own the tiebreaker with either NL East squad.

In order to clinch a postseason berth, the Braves need a win or a Diamondbacks loss on Sunday. The Mets need to beat the Brewers AND get a Diamondbacks loss. The Diamondbacks, let's just say they really need to win to keep themselves alive.

How the Brewers can sow more chaos in the NL Wild Card race

The Brewers are playing to win. They learned after the Diamondbacks series that they are not good enough to take their foot off the gas pedal. Since then, they have won the series against the Pirates and now won the series against the Mets, looking for a sweep heading into October.

Let's say the Brewers win on Sunday. The Mets fall to 87-73. If the Diamondbacks win, they move to 89-73, which means the Mets would need to sweep the double-header in Atlanta in order to secure a playoff berth and get the 6th seed. If the Braves lose, they would fall to 88-72, still a game up in the Wild Card and would only need a split in Monday's double-header to secure their playoff berth. That would leave Atlanta and Arizona as the final two Wild Cards with Atlanta being the 5th seed and Arizona coming to Milwaukee once again as the 6th seed.

That's the maximum chaos situation if the Brewers beat the Mets on Sunday.

Now, let's say the Mets are able to secure a victory and avoid the sweep. If the Diamondbacks lose, the Mets are in the playoffs and so are the Braves. The league could then opt to avoid the Monday double-header and use the tie-breaker to seed Atlanta and New York, in which case Atlanta owns the tie-breaker, so the Brewers would face the Mets again. If the Diamondbacks win, the Mets would need at least a split in Monday's double-header to secure their playoff berth. If the Braves also happen to lose on Sunday, then both NL East teams are tied at 88-72 going into their potential double-header.

If the Brewers win on Sunday, that double-header on Monday will need to take place to decide who will get the final two playoff spots. If the Mets win, then they also need the Diamondbacks to lose to avoid playing that double-header.

The Brewers don't have to stress too much, however. If they end up facing one of the Mets or Braves, those two teams will be coming back to Milwaukee with a taxed pitching staff coming off a double-header and no days off. It's going to be a wild day of baseball here on Sunday with a lot of scoreboard watching across the country.