ATLANTA (AP) — Four months after falling 11 games under .500, the New York Mets earned a playoff spot a day after the regular season was supposed to end.
With a thrilling 8-7 win at Atlanta in the opener of a makeup doubleheader on Monday behind Francisco Lindor's ninth-inning homer, the Mets advanced to a best-of-three NL Wild Card Series starting Tuesday at Milwaukee.
New York lost the nightcap 3-0, but it didn't matter. Pete Alonso and the Mets had already locked up the 11th postseason berth in team history.
“We’re a franchise that hasn’t had enough of these moments,” first-year president of baseball operations David Stearns, who grew up a Mets fan in New York City, said during the champagne party in the clubhouse following the second game.
“We’ve got more work to do. I don’t think anyone in here is satisfied with just one celebration.”
New York overcame an 0-5 start to earn an unexpected trip to the postseason. To punch their ticket, the Mets rebounded from deficits of 3-0 in the eighth inning and 7-6 in the ninth to beat the Braves in Monday's opener. And the big hit was by Lindor, who returned Friday from a back injury that had sidelined him since Sept. 15.
“In slow motion it felt like,” Lindor said when asked about the homer. “Emotion. Emotion. It felt like I got the pitch that I wanted. And you never know if the ball is going to go out or not but I feel like I got it 100%. We’re one step closer. Now we’ve got to finish it. Finish, finish, finish.”
Asked what he was thinking when he rounded the bases, Lindor said: “My back hurts. I’m tired. I know how good Atlanta is. But the one thing that I had in my mind was just thank you, Jesus and God.”
New York had lost 77 straight games when trailing by three runs in eighth inning or later since May 17, 2023.
It was a throwback to 1973, when the Mets also clinched a playoff spot on the day after the season was supposed to finish. Back then, they beat the Chicago Cubs 6-4 to secure the NL East title.
This year, a 10-3 loss to the Dodgers on May 29 completed a three-game Los Angeles sweep at Citi Field by a combined 18-5. New York dropped to 22-33 in its first season under manager Carlos Mendoza and was six games out of the last wild-card berth and needing to overcome seven teams.
Lindor called a players' only meeting. As players explained it, the Mets aired some issues in the clubhouse that day and committed themselves to positivity, effective preparation and a team-first approach dedicated to helping each other and winning games.
"We just opened the floor and talked about ways we can turn it around,” outfielder Brandon Nimmo said then. “Just felt like a boiling-over point.”
Since then, with Lindor leading the charge, they have the best record in the majors at 67-39. They have outscored opponents 541-430.
“It’s been an uphill fight,” Lindor said. “We put ourselves in a big hole and we kept climbing and kept climbing. We kept our shoulders above water. After the All-Star break, you know, we never believed that we were drowning.”
One of New York's biggest concerns going into the Wild Card Series is the availability of closer Edwin Díaz, who got the win in the doubleheader opener. The right-hander has thrown 66 pitches over the past two days.
Baseball's biggest spenders since Steve Cohen bought the team ahead of the 2021 season, the Mets reached the playoffs in 2022 only to lose a three-game Wild Card Series to San Diego. The Mets sank to 75-87 last year, when they had a record $319.5 million payroll and were assessed a record $100.8 million luxury tax.
They began this year as the top spender again at a projected $321 million, including $70 million in payments to teams covering salaries of traded players Max Scherzer, Justin Verlander and James McCann. Their projected luxury tax was $83 million.
After the win in the doubleheader opener, Cohen posted on X: “Have you ever seen a game like that? I am so proud of this team. Met fans, go out and celebrate.”
“This was such a massive group effort,” Alonso said. “We earned it.”
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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB
Paul Newberry, The Associated Press
