Weather may be the wild card in deciding which teams among the New York Mets, Philadelphia Phillies and Milwaukee Brewers reach Major League Baseball's postseason.

A pair of storms with heavy rainfall and high winds is forecast to batter the Northeast U.S. for two days beginning tonight. With rainouts likely, separate double-headers involving the Mets and Phillies are possible as they and the Brewers fight for the final two playoff spots in the National League.

The Phillies lead the Mets in the NL East Division by 1 1/2 games, while New York is tied with the Brewers for the wild card spot that goes to the division runner-up with the best record.

Going into the final four days of the season, the Phillies are favored to win the division, while the Mets are favored to be the wild-card team, according to Las Vegas Sports Consultants, which advises sports books on betting lines.

New York closes a four-game series with the Chicago Cubs tonight before a three-game set with the Florida Marlins at Shea Stadium over the weekend. The Phillies finish up against the Washington Nationals at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia, beginning tomorrow night.

The Brewers are likely to avoid any inclement weather as they wrap up their series against the Pirates tonight before finishing with three games against the Cubs at Miller Park in Milwaukee.

Last Time

The last time a team involved in a playoff race was forced into a double-header on the final weekend of play was in 2003, when the Cubs played the Pittsburgh Pirates on the second-to- last day of the regular season, according to the Elias Sports Bureau, which track baseball statistics.

The Cubs swept both games, eliminated the Houston Astros from contention and clinched the NL Central Division.

Rainouts for both the Mets and Phillies tomorrow night would probably mean a double-header either Saturday or Sunday, and a shuffling of pitching rotations to accommodate the change in schedules.

The Mets may have more complications if tonight's game against Chicago is rained out and needs to be played to decide the playoff race. In that case, the Cubs would have to return to New York on Sept. 29, two days before the first round of the playoffs is scheduled to start.

Showers and winds of 17 miles per hour (27.4 kilometers per hour) are forecast for New York City, beginning at 7 p.m. today, according to weather.com.