Braves fall to Royals 4-2, will play doubleheader against Mets to determine whether in playoffs

ATLANTA — Charlie Morton gave up a three-run homer to Michael Massey in the first inning and the Atlanta Braves squandered a chance to clinch a postseason berth, losing to the playoff-bound Kansas City Royals 4-2 on Sunday in what was supposed to be the final day of the regular season.

Atlanta hosts doubleheader Monday against the New York Mets, a makeup of two games that were rained out last week between the NL East rivals as Hurricane Helene slashed through the southeastern U.S.

Atlanta and the Mets are both 88-72, and Arizona finished 89-73. If either team sweeps Monday, the Diamondbacks reach the playoffs. But if the doubleheader is split, the Mets and Braves advance and Arizona is out because the Braves and Mets hold the tiebreaker edge over the Diamondbacks.

Before recording an out, Morton gave up a leadoff double to Tommy Pham, a single to Bobby Witt Jr. and Massey's homer.

Morton (8-10) surrendered four runs on five hits with two walks and three strikeouts over 4 1/3 innings.

The 40-year-old was drafted by the Braves in 2002 and made his MLB debut for Atlanta in 2008 He made what could be his final major league start and was given an small ovation after manager Brian Snitker pulled him in the top of the fifth inning.

Atlanta had ample opportunity to score more than two runs but went 1 for 9 with runners in scoring position.

Alec Marsh (9-9) allowed one earned run over five innings for the win. Kris Bubic pitched a scoreless ninth for his first save.

Witt went 1 for 4 to earn the AL batting title after finishing with a .332 average.

Royals: The No. 6 seed in the American League will face third-seeded Houston in the Wild Card Series that begins on Tuesday.

Braves: Will play the Mets in a Monday doubleheader to make up the games that were postponed on Wednesday and Thursday. Eighteen-game winner Chris Sale and rookie Spencer Schwellenbach are set up to get the starts.

Kyle Schwarber and Weston Wilson each drove in two runs, Aaron Nola earned his 14th victory and the NL East champion Philadelphia Phillies avoided a series sweep and closed out the regular season with a 6-3 win over the Washington Nationals on Sunday.

The Houston Texans hadn't scored in the second half and had punted on five straight possessions Sunday when they got one last chance to avoid being upset by the Jacksonville Jaguars.