A week like no other
As I write this, it's Sunday evening, October 6th. As I look back over the past week, it has been an unfathomable journey as a fan of the New York Mets.
One week ago, on Sunday, September 29, the Mets were in Milwaukee for their last regularly scheduled game of the season, needing a win to guarantee that they'd only need to split their makeup doubleheader at Atlanta the following day. Of course, Milwaukee, having already locked up a Wild Card series at home, likely preferred to lose that game anyway, knowing that it would force two potential playoff opponents to beat each other up before hosting one or the other - or maybe Arizona - in the first round of the playoffs.
Sure enough, the Mets won that game 5-0, and therefore they had a clear path to the playoffs: Split in Atlanta, and they're in the playoffs; get swept by the Braves, and their season is over. In the first game, on Monday, September 30, the Mets entered the top of the 8th inning trailing 3-0, put up six runs to take a 6-3 lead, then promptly gave the lead back in the bottom of the 8th, falling behind Atlanta 7-6. In the top of the 9th, however, Francisco Lindor belted a 2-run homer to put the Mets back in front, 8-7, and the Mets would hang on to win that game and earn a Wild Card berth. Atlanta took the nightcap to clinch the other Wild Card spot, thereby eliminating the Diamondbacks on the last day of the regular season.
So after flying from Milwaukee to Atlanta, the Mets flew back to Milwaukee to play the Brewers in the Wild Card round, which would start the very next day, Tuesday, October 1. Trailing 4-3 in the 5th inning of Game 1, New York put up five runs en route to an 8-4 victory, then dropped Game 2 after the Brewers put up three in the 8th for a 5-3 victory.
Which brings us to Game 3 on October 3rd, a game that, much like the game in Atlanta, will play over and over in Mets fans' heads for the rest of their lives. After giving up back-to-back solo homers in the 7th, the Mets trailed 2-0 heading into the top of the 9th. With runners at the corners and one out, the slumping Pete Alonso, who dropped a foul pop up earlier in the game, came up with a chance to put his team in front, and with one magical swing of the bat, he did just that, launching a three-run shot to put the Mets in front 3-2. Starling Marte's RBI single tacked on an insurance run, and the Mets closed out the Brewers in the 9th to win the series.
But wait, there's more! We move ahead to Saturday, October 5 - Game 1 of the NLDS between the Mets and the Phillies, the first time these two rivals have ever faced each other in the postseason.
After getting completely shut down for seven innings by ex-Met Zach Wheeler, the Mets, trailing 1-0 in the 8th, shocked the Philies bullpen by slicing and dicing their way to a 5-1 lead, and went on to take Game 1 of the NLDS 6-2. Game 2 this past Sunday, unfortunately, didn't go the Mets way, although they tried their best - Mets 3B Mark Vientos stunned the Phillies by tying the game with a 2-run homer in the top of the 9th, but the Mets fell in the bottom of the 9th after a walkoff single by Nick Castellanos.
The Mets now get to host the next two games at Citi Field starting Tuesday night, a whopping 16 days after their last home game all the way back against these same Phillies on Sunday, September 22nd. Should the Mets win both, they'll be on their way to the NLCS. But of course, against these Phillies, that is far easier said than done. It's down to a best-of-three series now, and it's anyone's series at this point.
After a week like that, let's hope there's still some magic left in the tank!