METS 5, PHILLIES 3 Miracle? Mets clinch top wild card
PHILADELPHIA — After all the disheartening injuries and frustrating skids, the Mets are back in the playoffs.
They clinched a postseason spot Saturday, beating the Phillies 5-3 to secure the top NL wild card. The defending NL champions will host the Giants or the Cardinals on Wednesday night.
“We never gave up,” said third baseman Jose Reyes. “We never doubted the talent we had in here.”
The only other time the Mets made the postseason in consecutive years was 1999-2000.
This season has presented all sorts of new challenges. The banged-up Mets (87-74) overcame injuries that depleted their lineup and decimated a terrific young rotation, with Matt Harvey, Jacob deGrom and Steven Matz all sidelined by seasonending ailments.
Two games under .500 on Aug. 19, the Mets have gone a majorleague-best 27-12 over the last six weeks to vault over four teams in the wild-card race.
“This year was much tougher,” winning pitcher Bartolo Colon said through a translator. “We had a lot of people injured, and it was hard to get here.”
James Loney hit a two-run homer to back Colon (15-8), and Jeurys Familia earned his MLBhigh 51st save. T.J. Rivera, Asdrubal Cabrera and Reyes had RBI singles.
By clinching with one day to spare, the Mets can save All-Star Noah Syndergaard for the wildcard game. He could get a brief tuneup Sunday against the Phillies but should be fresh for Wednesday.
“When you’re in, you’re capable of anything,” manager Terry Collins said. “We’ve got our ace going Wednesday. If he can spin one up and you get a couple breaks, you never know.” BALTIMORE Jones cf Kim lf Reimold lf c-Alvarez ph Machado 3b Trumbo dh Wieters c Davis 1b Schoop 2b Bourn rf Hardy ss TOTALS NEW YORK Gardner lf Hicks cf-rf Castro 2b Butler dh a-McCn dh-c Teixeira 1b 1-Refsnyder rf b-Ellsbury cf Headley 3b Romine c Betances p Austin rf-1b Torreyes ss TOTALS 34 34 3 7 9 12 3 7 .267 .304 .222 .249 .294 .256 .241 .221 .265 .310 .271 .260 .220 .270 .357 .240 .206 .250 .261 .251 .242
— .244 .258