What had seemed inevitable was delayed, first by a postponed game and an Atlanta loss on Monday, then by a Mets victory on Tuesday. But with a 2-1 win over Miami on Tuesday night in Florida, Atlanta officially clinched the National League East title, forcing the 99-win Mets into this weekend’s wild-card round of the playoffs.
The Mets had been tied or leading their division after the conclusion of all but two of their first 157 games this season, and they led Atlanta by 10.5 games as recently as June 1. But a stellar second half from Atlanta saw it steadily make up ground on the Mets.