Maybe it was Grimace’s magical touch. Maybe it was their second baseman who released a No. 1 song. Or maybe it was their MVP-caliber leader. Whatever the reason, the Mets fought their way back into the postseason, clinching a spot with a wild, see-saw victory over the Atlanta Braves in the first game of Monday’s rescheduled doubleheader.

It was a game befitting the Mets’ roller-coaster season, which saw dramatic lead changes and seemingly out of contention before rallying one last time to secure a postseason berth.

The first part of the game was fairly quiet and seemed to be headed for a Braves win. The Braves took a 2-0 lead in the third inning on a two-run pitch by Ozzie Albies to Tylor Megill. Since returning from a two-month IL stint due to a fractured left wrist, Albies has struggled most of the time. As a switch-hitter, Albies was forced to hit only from the right side, a concession to the pain that remains in his wrist when he bats with his left hand. But that didn’t matter against righty Megill, who hadn’t allowed a single home run among the 122 major league batters he had previously faced, a stretch dating back to his July 27 start against Atlanta.

Meanwhile, Braves rookie Spencer Wechselbach secured his place as a contender among the Mets’ renowned hitters. In his 21st big league start, Wechselbach pitched a shutout in the eighth inning and retired to a standing ovation after allowing a leadoff double to Tyrone Taylor.

Spencer Hügelbach, Filthy 83mph curveball. 😷

5.K pic.twitter.com/rEulVx3ghq

— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) September 30, 2024

Then the Mets took over. Francisco Alvarez followed Taylor with an RBI double against Braves reliever Joe Jimenez. Starling Marte assisted with a single and Lindor scored another run with a single up the middle. Snitker brought in closer Raisel Iglesias to face infielder Jose Iglesias. The Mets’ Iglesias immediately hit a game-winning single to right, and Mark Vientos followed with a sacrifice fly for the go-ahead run. When Brandon Nimmo hammered a home run into right field in the next at-bat for a 6-4 lead, it felt like the Mets were already on their way to the postseason.

Not quite. After the Braves used two players in the bottom of the eighth, the Mets turned to standout closer Edwin Díaz, who has reliably broken up so many turnovers. This time he struggled to find the strike zone, allowing Albies an RBI single, a walk and then a two-run double to give the Braves a 7-6 lead.

But once the Mets were dead, they came back to life. Starling Marte hit a one-out single, bringing Lindor to the plate with so much on the line. He delivered, smashing a two-run home run to center field and giving the Mets the 8-7 lead they would hold until the finale, when their dugout emptied and the playoff players bounced up and down around the pitcher’s mound.

WHEEEEEEE OF THE YEAR!!!!!!!!!!! pic.twitter.com/xu88jaxTMz

— Sarah Langs (@SlangsOnSports) September 30, 2024

Although the Mets had secured the victory, the Mets and Braves still had to play the second game of the doubleheader, with the Braves having to win to secure their own playoff spot. This would come at the expense of the Arizona Diamondbacks, who were forced to sit idly by after playing their 162nd game on Sunday and finding themselves on the outside due to tiebreakers.

The Mets-Braves doubleheader was played on Monday because Hurricane Helene wreaked havoc on the southeastern United States last week and the scheduled Mets-Braves series in Atlanta had to be postponed. MLB, in anticipation of the weather, opted not to play games scheduled for Sept. 25 and 26 at a neutral site or to play them early last week — creating a scenario in which the winner of the first game had no incentive to win the second, putting both the Mets and Braves in the playoffs and keeping the Diamondbacks out.

The strange circumstances of recent games only highlight the difficult path the Mets have traveled to get to this point. Under the new leadership of first-year team president David Stearns and new manager Carlos Mendoza, the Mets made an admirable late-season rebound to overtake the Diamondbacks in the race for the final postseason spot.

Just a few months ago, the playoffs seemed like an impossible task. Their season bottomed out on May 29 when New York fell 11 games under .500 after being defeated at home by the Dodgers. Reliever Jorge Lopez threw his glove into the stands and was DFA’d shortly thereafter.

On April 4, Mets broadcaster Gary Cohen said in an afternoon game against the Tigers: “No one in the stadium, 0-5 (record). No hits until 7. It feels like rock bottom.”

However, the last three months have been one party after another. Led by shortstop and MVP candidate Lindor, the Mets fought admirably to stay in the crowded and chaotic NL Wild Card scene.

When the Mets traded Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander last July, they signaled to those players that the team wouldn’t go all-in in 2024. Instead, the year would be used to develop young players and evaluate their best path to World Series contention. It turns out their current best path was to make the playoffs.

The Mets don’t have the most talented club and will face either the San Diego Padres or the Milwaukee Brewers in the wild card series. It won’t be easy. But nothing about this season was. They worked hard to get the shot they have.

(Photo: Todd Kirkland / MLB Photos via Getty Images)