Every step took something out of the Mets. Every day brought a new injury, a new hurdle, a new set of parameters to overcome.
But for six weeks, the Mets stood in defiance of fear and fate. They trained their focus on extricating themselves from the fringes of the race. Because of it, a franchise so often pockmarked by promise unfulfilled could rejoice in an improbable return to the postseason.
It became official in a 5-3 victory over the Phillies on Saturday, when the Mets clinched one the National League’s two wild cards.
Michael Conforto entered into a slide in leftfield to track down Aaron Altherr’s broken bat bloop. Jeurys Familia raised his right hand, trusting it toward the sky. Catcher Travis d’Arnaud clutched him. And in an instant, they found themselves awash in a sea of blue, their teammates mobbing them in front of the mound.
For just the second time in franchise history, the Mets have backed up an appearance in the postseason with another, even though attrition has left this team as only a shadow of the crew that won the pennant a season ago.
They will host either the Giants or the Cardinals, the two rivals they ultimately outlasted in a dogfight that frayed their roster and tested their resolve.
“I’m very proud of what these guys have accomplished and with all the stuff we’ve had to endure,” manager Terry Collins said, before the Mets made it official.
Little went according to plan for the Mets. By season’s end, Matt Harvey, Jacob deGrom and Steven Matz had been lost to season-ending surgery, leaving three-fifths of the starting rotation in tatters.
At one point, half of the Mets’ opening day lineup had landed on the disabled list, and their hopes for October had flickered. Yet, they clinched on the backs of players who wouldn’t have been uniform had anything gone according to plan. At the end, it seemed fitting.
Jose Reyes, given a second chance only because David Wright went down, knocked in a run. Rookie TJ Rivera, undrafted and overlooked, added another.
James Loney bashed a two-run homer to put the Mets ahead for good, extending his arms skyward and then dropping his bat like a microphone as the ball cleared the right field fence.
Later, Asdrubal Cabrera, with a banged-up knee that should have kept him on the disabled list, tacked on an insurance run with a flare to right.
Colon, expected by now to be in the bullpen, picked up the victory. And if the Mets advance to the NLDS, the 43-year-old will front a rotation now occupied by rookies Robert Gsellman and Seth Lugo. Familia slammed the door in the ninth with his 51st save. With that, warts and bumps and bruises and all, the Mets began their wild celebration.

RESULTS
St. Louis     4     Pittsburgh     3
NY Mets     5     Philadelphia     3
San Francisco     3     LA Dodgers     0
Washington     2     Miami     1
NY Yankees     7     Baltimore     3
Cincinnati     7     Chicago Cubs     4
Cleveland     6     Kansas City     3
Atlanta     5     Detroit     3
Minnesota     6     White Sox     0
Toronto     4     Boston     3
Tampa Bay     4     Texas     1
Milwaukee     4     Colorado     3
            (10 innings)
Arizona     9     San Diego     5
Houston     3     LA Angels     0
Oakland     9     Seattle     8 (10 innings)