ATLANTA (AP) — Four months after dropping 11 games under .500, the New York Mets earned a playoff berth a day after the regular season was supposed to end. With an 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 or San Diego.
If New York wins the second game, it would play at the Padres. If the Mets lose the nightcap, they would play at Milwaukee. New York overcame an 0-5 start to advance to the postseason for just the 11th time in 63 seasons.
The Mets then 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.
” 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 fir.