Yes, we have one more day of regular-season baseball to be played. Sunday’s results failed to settle the National League wild-card race, so the New York Mets jumped on a plane to Atlanta for a doubleheader against the Atlanta Braves on Monday (Watch on ESPN2) and clinched a playoff spot by winning the opening game. The Arizona Diamondbacks will be watching — they need New York to pull off a sweep in order to get into the playoffs themselves.

Let’s break down some of the doubleheader’s biggest questions:

OK, why are we here in the first place?

These are makeup games from the two Hurricane Helene-related rainouts in last week’s Mets-Braves series. Without them, the standings entering the day had the Braves, Mets and Diamondbacks in a virtual tie for the final two wild-card spots, necessitating the two games be played:

Diamondbacks: 89-73
Mets: 88-72
Braves: 88-72

The important thing to know here: Both the Mets and Braves hold the tiebreaker over the Diamondbacks by virtue of winning their season series. That’s why the Diamondbacks need a sweep to get in; if the Mets and Braves split the doubleheader and all three teams finish 89-73, the Diamondbacks stay home.

Another thing to know: The Braves led the season series over the Mets 6-5, entering Monday so a split would see them remain the higher seed.

What are the scenarios for each team to clinch a playoff spot?

Because the Mets won the first game, they have clinched a playoff spot. Now here are the scenarios heading into Game 2 of the doubleheader:

1. The Mets win the first game, the Braves win the second game. The Braves are the No. 5 seed and head to the No. 4 San Diego Padres for a best-of-three wild-card series starting Tuesday. The Mets are the No. 6 seed and play the No. 3 Milwaukee Brewers. Yes, that means the Mets would have gone from Milwaukee on Sunday to Atlanta on Monday, and then back to Milwaukee on Tuesday.

2. The Mets win both games, eliminating Atlanta. New York is the No. 5 seed and plays the Padres. The Diamondbacks are the No. 6 seed and play the Brewers in a rematch of last year’s wild-card series. The Mets travel from Milwaukee to Atlanta to San Diego.

Who are the starting pitchers?

Well, first of all, remember: The scheduled starter is likely to change for the team that wins the first game.

The Mets are going with right-hander Tylor Megill in the first game. Megill last pitched on Sept. 22 against the Phillies, allowing one run in four innings (but throwing 93 pitches). He has allowed just two runs over his past three starts. Right-hander Luis Severino is on the schedule for the second game. His last start was the first game of the Atlanta series last Tuesday and he took the loss, allowing seven hits and four runs in four innings. He has a 3.17 ERA over his past eight starts.

While the Mets used arguably their top three starters — Sean Manaea, Jose Quintana and David Peterson — over the weekend against the Brewers, they are all lefties. These two righties might actually be a better matchup against the righty-heavy Braves lineup that had a .778 OPS against left-handed pitchers but .706 against right-handers.

It’s worth noting here that if both scheduled starters are used and the Mets advance — if they lose the first game and win the second — they would have to use Manaea on three days’ rest to start the wild-card series.

The Braves announced that rookie Spencer Schwellenbach will start Game 1. He faced off against Severino last week and pitched a gem, allowing just three hits and one run over seven innings. He faced the Mets one other time, back in July, and had the best game of his career, striking out 11 in seven scoreless innings.

Atlanta’s starter for the second game — for now — is Chris Sale.

Wait, yeah, what’s going on with Sale?

Good question. Sale, who leads the NL in wins, ERA and strikeouts, hasn’t pitched since Sept. 19, when he went five innings against the Cincinnati Reds. He was scheduled to start one of the rained-out games, but heading into the weekend the Braves said they would now save Sale for an “emergency” situation — meaning, a must-win game. That will come into play now only if they lose the first game.

It’s certainly an interesting strategic decision — if they had won Sunday with Sale pitching, they would have clinched a playoff spot. Instead, they can use him in the second game if needed, and if they win the first game, they’ll have Sale ready to start the first game of the wild-card series.

Of course, there’s also this question: Is he 100 percent right now?

His four-seam fastball averaged 92.7 mph against the Reds — his lowest average of the season, down from 95.9 mph the start before, and down from his overall season average of 94.8 mph. Maybe it was just a little late-season fatigue: He was starting on four days of rest and his previous start had come against the Los Angeles Dodgers, when he had his second-highest average velocity. But a 2 mph drop is considered significant, so it’s certainly something to note.

Maybe there’s nothing here. Maybe the Braves were just holding Sale back with the hope that he wouldn’t be needed and thus would be rested for the start of the postseason. We’ll find out if the Braves lose that first game.

What about the bullpens?

Mets manager Carlos Mendoza used Edwin Diaz to close out the 5-0 win over the Milwaukee Brewers on Sunday. This is understandable — you don’t want to mess around in that situation. But it was a safe five-run lead and Diaz ended up throwing 26 pitches. Now, there’s a scenario where the Mets need him in six games over five days, counting Sunday’s finale, Monday’s doubleheader and the wild-card series.

The Braves are in better shape; none of their top relievers — closer Raisel Iglesias, Joe Jimenez or Pierce Johnson — pitched in Sunday’s 4-2 loss to Kansas City. They also have one of the deepest and best bullpens in the league, so they’re in good shape to withstand the rigors of a doubleheader.

Big Ten and SEC athletic directors will discuss a possible partnership in football scheduling, along with their preferences for automatic bids, in the next iteration of the College Football Playoff.

The discussion is to take place at an in-person meeting in Nashville, Tennessee, next week, multiple sources from both conferences told ESPN on Monday.

The meeting is a continuation of the Big Ten-SEC joint advisory group, which was formed in February and includes the leagues’ university presidents, chancellors and athletic directors. SEC commissioner Greg Sankey and Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti are scheduled to meet with the athletic directors for one day.

“There is hope that we can definitely move the needle and make some progress on different things,” one Big Ten source said.

The future scheduling partnership could hinge on whether the SEC eventually decides to go to nine conference games — a topic one SEC source said hasn’t been a focus of conversations lately. Some Big Ten athletic directors could push back on any agreement if the SEC doesn’t move to nine games, because the Big Ten already plays nine league opponents.

“If we’re all going to figure this out,” one source said, “we’ve got to be on equal footing.”

Sources in both leagues told ESPN on Monday they would prefer to have potentially four automatic bids each to the playoff when the next contract begins in 2026. CFP leaders haven’t determined yet what the playoff will look like beyond this season and next. Some said they need to know that before making any decisions about future scheduling partnerships.

“I’m for anything that gives us the maximum number of postseason opportunities,” one SEC source said. “I don’t count bowl games as postseason opportunities.”

Some have also expressed interest in limiting the role of the 13-member selection committee — or eliminating it entirely.

“I think anything we can do to take the subjectivity of a committee off the table is really helpful,” the SEC source said. “We may not be able to completely get rid of subjectivity the more we can minimize it. And so Tony Petitti’s idea of multiple automatic spots for a conference has a lot of value. I’m not sure four is the right number.”

While the future CFP format is a long way from being determined, guaranteed bids for eight of the 14 playoff spots to the SEC and Big Ten would receive significant pushback from others and already has.

In March, the CFP and ESPN announced a new six-year, $7.8 billion contract that runs through the 2031-32 season. ESPN secured a six-year agreement that will cost $1.3 billion annually beginning in the 2026-27 season. The contract is built as either 11 or 13 games — all of which are playoff games — in a 12- or 14-team field. There are protections in place for the ACC, Big Ten, SEC and Big 12 conference champions, Notre Dame, and the highest-ranked Group of 5 champion in the new contract.

In order for some guarantees, though, the other FBS conferences and Notre Dame surrendered the bulk of control over the future format to the SEC and Big Ten.

Sources hesitated to say any concrete decisions will be made next week, but Big Ten athletic directors have a regularly scheduled meeting Wednesday in which they hope to prepare talking points that could produce “real, concrete things.”

Pakistan women cricket team register 31-run victory over Sri Lanka after they bounced back with the help of their bowling in the second match of the Women’s T20 World Cup at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium on Thursday. 

The Lankans failed to chase the 117-run target and were only able to score 85 runs at the loss of nine wickets against the pace and spin of Pakistan’s bowlers known for their tremendous skills of winning matches through their bowling. 

Apart from Nilakshika Silva and Vishmi Gunaratne — they scored 22 off 25 and 20 off 34 respectively — of Sri Lanka, the rest of the batters failed to leave an impressive mark with their individual scores.

Pakistan’s Sadia Iqbal topped the wicket-taking chart with her three scalps with Omaima Sohail, Nashra Sandhu and Fatima Sana turned the game in their teams’ favour after taking two wickets each as the side successfully registered a 31-run win.

Earlier, the Green Shirts had bundled out on 116 runs after they won the toss and opted to bat first.

Sri Lankan bowlers excelled with the ball as Pakistan women team bundled out on 116 runs in the second match of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2024.

Opted to bat first, the Green Shirts had a dismal start to their innings with Sugandika Kumari dismissing both openers Muneeba Ali and Gull Feroza inside four overs with just 17 runs on the board.

Adding further to the misery, Sri Lanka captain Athapaththu removed Sidra Amin in the sixth over of the innings. The right-handed batter scored 12 off 10 deliveries with the help of one boundary.

Experienced all-rounder Nida Dar then joined Omaima as they managed a 25-run partnership for the fourth wicket until the youngster fell victim to Kavisha Dilhari in the 10th over. She managed 18 off 19 deliveries, laced up with a four.

Dar then put on a brief partnership with Tuba Hassan (5) before getting bowled to Udeshika Prabodhani. The former captain smashed a six on her way to a 22-ball 23.

The wickets continued falling as Tuba Hassan and Aliya Riaz were dismissed by Chamari Athapaththu on back-to-back deliveries.

Pakistan soon slipped further to 84/8 in 14.5 overs after Diana Baig caught out after scoring just two runs.

However, Fatima stood up for her team along with Nashra (6*) to give a late push to her side’s total. The Pakistan captain top-scored with a 20-ball 30, laced up with three fours and a six, before walking back to the dugout in the final over.

For Sri Lanka, Athapaththu, Kumari and Udeshika Prabodhani claimed three wickets each, while Kavisha Dilhari took one scalp.

Playing XI:

Pakistan: Muneeba Ali (wk), Gull Feroza, Nida Dar, Tuba Hassan, Fatima Sana (captain), Aliya Riaz, Sidra Amin, Omaima Sohail, Diana Baig, Nashra Sandhu, Sadia Iqbal.

Sri Lanka: Vishmi Gunaratne, Chamari Athapaththu (captain), Harshitha Samarawickrama, Kavisha Dilhari, Nilakshika Silva, Hasini Perera, Anushka Sanjeewani (wk), Sugandika Kumari, Inoshi Priyadharshani, Sachini Nisansala, Udeshika Prabodhani.

LAHORE: The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on Thursday announced a seven-member squad for the upcoming Hong Kong World Sixes, with all-rounder Faheem Ashraf leading the side.

The eight-team tournament, after a seven-year-hiatus, will be played from November 1 to 3 at the Kowloon Cricket Club in Hong Kong.

Pakistan since the inception of the tournament in 1993 have won the tournament four times, while it has remained runners-up of the event for five times, which include qualifying for the final of the last edition held in 2017.

Defending champions South Africa and England lead with the most titles, each winning five. Sri Lanka, Australia, India, and the West Indies have each won one title.

Some of the biggest names like Shahid Afridi, Imran Nazir, MS Dhoni, Wasim Akram, Umar Akmal, Shoaib Malik, Glenn Maxwell, Sanath Jayasuriya and others have played the tournament.

“We are excited to bring back this iconic event that showcases our city as a truly world city and a sporting capital of East Asia to the world and our cricket credentials. The strategic plan is to develop the Hong Kong Sixes into a global series, culminating every year with the grand finale at home,” said Chairperson of Cricket Hong Kong, China Burji Shroff.

Former Test wicketkeeper-batter Saleem Yousuf will travel with the side as manager, the cricket-governing body said.

Pakistan squad:

Faheem Ashraf (captain), Aamer Yamin, Asif Ali, Danish Aziz, Hussain Talat, Muhammad Akhlaq (wk) and Shahab Khan