Mets pick up wild-card spot with victory over Phillies
— -- PHILADELPHIA -- The reigning National League champions are returning to the postseason. This visit may be more of an accomplishment than a year ago.
Decimated by injuries, the New York Mets nonetheless clinched a wild-card berth Saturday with a 5-3 win over the Philadelphia Phillies. They will host the? San Francisco Giants or? St. Louis Cardinals?on Wednesday.
It marks the second time in franchise history that the Mets (87-74) will appear in the postseason in consecutive years. They earned consecutive wild-card berths in 1999 and 2000.
The Mets have withstood significant injuries, particularly to their starting rotation. Matt Harvey (thoracic outlet), Jacob deGrom (ulnar nerve) and Steven Matz (bone spur) all required season-ending surgeries, while Zack Wheeler's intended summer return from Tommy John surgery never materialized.
Instead, rookies Seth Lugo and Robert Gsellman stabilized the staff. They will serve in the postseason rotation alongside Noah Syndergaard and Bartolo Colon if the Mets can advance to a division series against the Chicago Cubs.
"This game is about pitching," manager Terry Collins said. "It tells you that this organization has done a tremendous job of stockpiling some pretty good pitching. We traded a bunch of them last year to get us to the World Series, and yet we still had Gsellman and Lugo and guys that have come in this year and saved us -- just literally saved us -- with all of the injuries we've had to our pitching."
The Mets had a 60-62 record on Aug. 19 after dropping a second straight game in San Francisco, leading to questions about Collins' future. Falling two games under .500 coincided with the returns of Yoenis Cespedes and Asdrubal Cabrera from the disabled list. Since that point, the Mets have posted the best record in baseball and now are a season-high 13 games over .500.
General manager Sandy Alderson remade the roster on the fly as the Mets dealt with mounting injuries. Jose Reyes' signing after a domestic-violence incident prompted his release by the Colorado Rockies offset the loss of David Wright due to a ruptured disk in his neck. The addition of James Loney, who had been languishing in Triple-A with the San Diego Padres, stabilized first base after Lucas Duda was diagnosed with a stress fracture in his lower back that ultimately sidelined him for four months.
The Mets also acquired infielder Kelly Johnson from the Atlanta Braves for a second straight year and reliever Fernando Salas from the Los Angeles Angels to handle the seventh inning. They picked up catcher Rene Rivera after he was jettisoned on the eve of the season by the Tampa Bay Rays.
Alderson's signature trade-deadline acquisition was right fielder Jay Bruce from the Cincinnati Reds?for second baseman Dilson Herrera and minor league left-hander Max Wotell. Unlike a year ago, when Cespedes' acquisition helped the Mets become the first team in MLB history to reach the World Series after ranking last in the majors in runs scored on July 31, Bruce struggled for much of the season's final two months. He has homered four times since Sept. 24 and has shown signs of awakening at the right time.
Collins said he is particularly proud of the Mets' resiliency in the wake of injuries.
"You can hit yourself in the head so many times before you start to say, 'Geez, it's just not going to happen.' And these guys never stopped," Collins said. "They just kept coming every day and played no matter who was out. You get kind of numb to the situation -- 'Hey look, somebody's out.' Well, somebody else has got to play there. They've just kept grinding it out."
