METS CAP QUITE AN AMAZIN’ RUN
Injury-ravaged squad clinches wild card
PHILADELPHIA — Jose Reyes conducted the sing-along and Jay Bruce stepped forward and basked as the fans finally chanted “Bruuuuuucee.” James Loney ran along the fence wearing the Mets MVP belt soaked in champagne and Bartolo Colon just chuckled and took it all in from the corner.
An unlikely Mets team filled with unexpected contributors overcame a tidal wave of injuries this year to clinch the National League’s top wild-card spot with a 5-3 win over the Phillies Saturday.
After soaking the clubhouse with champagne, they celebrated with their fans who traveled to Citizens Bank Park Saturday. It was a long road for both the team and its supporters.
“This one we had to claw. We had to claw, scratch and fight and deal with a lot of stuff that made it tough,” Mets manager Terry Collins said. “There is nothing like it.”
The Mets will host the wild card game Wednesday night at Citi Field for the chance to play the Cubs in the National League Division Series. The Giants hold a one-game lead over the Cardinals for the second wild card and a win over the Dodgers Sunday would bring San Francisco to Citi Field for the one-game playoff against the Mets. St. Louis plays the Pirates Sunday.
Two games below .500 and 5.5 games out of the second wild card spot on Aug.19, the Mets rallied to reach consecutive postseasons for only the second time in franchise history.
“We’re here now and we’re a really, really good team,” said Bruce, who broke out of an epic slump to lead the Mets down the final stretch. “We have a lot of good players. We work hard, we expect a lot of ourselves. We hold ourselves accountable. I think that is so important.
“This is what you play for. It’s so hard to get to the playoffs. It’s so elusive,” said Bruce, who came over from the Reds in a deadline-day trade. “You never know when you get there or when you are going to get back. So, I am just really, really fortunate to be here.”
The Mets began the season with four aces and Colon in the rotation. They lost three of their Opening Day infielders for most of the season and their rotation was absolutely decimated by injuries. Colon and Noah Syndergaard are the only healthy pitchers left from the rotation the Mets began the season with.
“This year was much tougher,” said Colon, who gave the Mets five solid innings Saturday. “We had a lot of people that were injured, it was hard to just get here to play this one game we’re going to play right now.”
The Mets would not have been here this season without Colon, who was re-signed to go into the bullpen, and other players who were not expected to contribute at the beginning of the season. The development of rookie starters Seth Lugo and Robert Gsellman has been crucial the last month and a half. The moves to bring in Loney, Reyes and Bruce were key.
Released by the Rays April 3, Loney kept the Mets going after Lucas Duda went down with a stress fracture in his back in May. Saturday, Loney’s two-run homer in the sixth broke the 2-2 tie and sent them on to the win.
“I think in that home run, that moment,” Loney said, “there’s a lot of emotion going on at that time and you know how big the game is. Time has gone by so fast since a few months ago when I first arrived. This is what you play for.”
It was that feeling that had Reyes, who singled in a run Saturday, hoping that the Mets would give him a second chance. After serving a 51-game MLB suspension for a domestic violence incident, Reyes was released by the Rockies in June. The Mets took a chance on him to replace David Wright. Reyes, who spent the first 10 years of his career with the Mets and last went to the playoffs with them in 2006, said this was what he dreamed of when he signed.
“It’s been 10 years, man. This is different,” Reyes said. “This is the end of my career. I am 33 years old. Different in 2006 — I was too young, I had so many more opportunities. This is going to be special with all I have been through.”
Considering what the Mets have been through this season, just getting back to the postseason felt like something special to them.