POSTSEASON: This is the ninth time the Mets have qualified for the postseason in team history and the third time as a Wild Card…The club was also a Wild Card under the previous format in 1999 and 2000.
SECOND TIME IN TEAM HISTORY: New York has reached the postseason in consecutive years for the second time in team history (also 1999-2000).
POSTSEASON VS. SAN FRANCISCO: The Mets and Giants have met once before in the postseason…New York beat San Francisco, three games to one, in the 2000 NLDS…Some memorable moments from that series include, John Franco striking out Barry Bonds to end Game 2 after Jay Payton’s 10th- inning RBI single gave the Mets a 5-4 lead…Benny Agbayani blasted a 13th-inning walk-off solo homer in Game 3 and Bobby Jones’ one-hit shutout in a 4-0 win in Game 4.
POSTSEASON HISTORY: The Mets are 51-37 all-time in the postseason…The club’s .580 winning percentage is the third- best in major league history…Only the Marlins (22-11, .667) and the Yankees (223-155, .590) have a better winning percentage.
TERRY COLLINS: Becomes the third Mets manager in franchise history to lead the team to two postseason appearances, joining Davey Johnson (1986, 1988) and Bobby Valentine (1999, 2000)… The Mets are 481-491 over the last six years under Collins…He has the third-most wins in franchise history, behind Johnson (595) and Valentine (536).
POSTSEASON STREAK: The Mets have won at least one postseason series in each of the last four years they have qualified for the playoffs (2015, 2006, 2000 and 1999) and have won their first postseason series in seven of the previous eight times they qualified for the playoffs…The last time the Mets were eliminated in their first postseason series of the year was the 1988 NLCS vs. the Dodgers.
CELEBRATING ON THE ROAD: The Mets have celebrated their 2016 Wild Card berth, the 2015 NLCS, the 2015 NLDS and 2015 NL East Crown all on the road…The last time the Mets celebrated at home was when they captured the 2006 NL East title (they also won the 2006 NLDS on the road).
WINNER TAKE ALL: The Mets are 3-3 all-time in winner-take- all postseason games, including 2-1 at home…The Mets won Game 5 of the NLDS at Los Angles last year, 3-2, to advance to the NLCS…New York beat the Reds, 7-2, in Game 5 of the 1973 NLCS at Shea and beat Boston, 8-5, in Game 7 of the 1986 World Series at Shea…The Mets lost Game 7 of 1973 World Series, 5-2, at Oakland, lost, 6-0, to the Dodgers in Game 7 of the 1988 NLCS at Los Angeles and fell, 3-1, to St. Louis in Game 7 of the 2006 NLCS at Shea.
THE “OTHER” ONE-GAME “PLAYOFF”: The Mets and Reds tied for the final Wild Card spot in 1999 with identical 96-66 records… The two teams played a regular season game 163 – “a one game playoff” to face the Arizona Diamondbacks in the NLDS…The Mets beat the Reds, 5-0, at Riverfront Stadium behind Al Leiter’s complete-game two-hitter…Edgardo Alfonzo hit a two-run homer in the first inning and Rickey Henderson added a solo shot in the fifth.
2016 VS. GIANTS: The Mets went 4-3 vs. the Giants this year… New York won two of the three vs. San Francisco at Citi Field, April 29-May 1…New York scored a franchise-record 12 runs in one inning (third inning) on April 29…The Mets went 2-2 at AT&T Park, August 18-21…Noah Syndergaard tossed 8.0 shutout innings and allowed two hits in a 2-0 win on August 21…Madison Bumgarner allowed four runs in 5.0 innings to beat the Mets on August 18.
MOUND MATCH-UP: Noah Syndergaard finished third in the majors in ERA (2.60) and Madison Bumgarner was fourth (2.74)… According to the Elias Sports Bureau, the last time two pitchers in top 5 in ERA in the majors faced each other in the postseason was in Game 1 of the 2014 NLDS when Clayton Kershaw faced Adam Wainwright…Kershaw allowed eight runs and Wainwright six runs as the Cardinals beat the Dodgers, 10-9.
POWER UP: The Mets hit a franchise-record 218 home runs this year…The previous mark was 200 homers in 2006…The 218 homers by the Mets ranked second in the NL and fifth in the majors…The Mets were 77-40 when they homered…New York hit 112 home runs at home a franchise-record for a single-season… New York was 39-21 when they hit a home run at home this year.
BEST RECORD: The Mets had a .675 (27-13) winning percentage from August 20 through the end of the year, the best percentage in the majors during that span…The Cubs were second (.650, 26-14)…On August 19, the Mets were 60-62 and stood 5.5 games out of the first Wild Card behind four teams… That day, Yoenis Cespedes and Asdrubal Cabrera returned from the Disabled List.
LATE CHARGE: The Mets became the 10th major league team to qualify for the playoffs when the team was below .500 after 120 or more games…The 1973 Mets also accomplished this feat…The last time it occurred was the 2009 Twins.
AT HOME: The Mets went 44-37 overall at Citi Field…The Mets went 15-7 in their last 22 home games.
PITCHING IN: The Mets ranked third in the majors with a 3.58 team ERA…The staff issued 439 walks, tied for the fewest in the majors with the Giants and allowed 152 homers, tied for the fewest in the majors with the Marlins.
YO!: The Mets were 26-10 in the 36 games Yoenis Cepedes started after he returned from the Disabled List on August 19 …Cespedes had 27 RBI and nine homers during that span… Overall, Cespedes was ninth in the NL in slugging (.530) and was tied for ninth with 31 home runs.
51 FOR FAMILIA: Jeurys Familia was the first Mets reliever to lead the majors in saves (51)…Familia is the first Dominican-born reliever to notch 50 or more saves in a season…Familia became the 13th pitcher in ML history to reach the 50-save plateau and his 51 saves are tied for the ninth-most in major league history.
NATIONAL ANTHEM: Grammy and Emmy Award winning violinist Itzhak Perlman will perform tonight’s National Anthem.
ESB: The Empire State Building will be lit in blue and orange tonight to support the Mets.
