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For the first time since 2015, the New York Mets are moving on to the National League Championship Series.
After beating the Milwaukee Brewers in the wild card, New York’s miraculous postseason continued with a divisional series win over the Philadelphia Phillies. For Mets’ owner Steve Cohen, finally finding playoff success is a dream come true.
“I’ve been waiting for this for years,” Cohen said, per SNY’s Phillip Martinez. “I wanted this place packed. I want to slay the negative Met fan perception and we’re on our way to doing that. Let’s keep it going.”
Cohen took over as the Mets’ owner in 2020 and the team has seen little success so far during his tenure. That has changed this year thanks to a midseason turnaround that saw New York post the best record in baseball from June 1 to the end of the regular season.
Even though the Mets had an outstanding finish to the year, they still had to fight up until the last day of the season for a playoff spot. They sealed their postseason fate with a win over the Atlanta Braves.
After the Mets handled the NL Central champion Brewers in the wild card series, taking down the Phillies, who boasted the second-best record in the majors, seemed like a long shot. A 6-2 win in Game 1 proved otherwise.
New York and Philadelphia split Games 2 and 3 and it seemed like Game 4 would go the Phillies’ way after they led in a pitcher’s battle through five innings. That was until Francisco Lindor, who inked a 10-year, $341 million contract after Cohen’s first season as the Mets’ owner, drilled a grand slam in the bottom of the sixth to make it a 4-1 game, a score that would ultimately hold as New York advanced.
“That 341 (million) is looking pretty freakin’ good right now,” Cohen said, per the New York Post’s Mike Puma.
Things don’t get much easier for the Mets now as they’ll await the winner of the series between the Los Angeles Dodgers, who had the best record in baseball this year, and the San Diego Padres, who look like one of the hottest teams in the majors right now.
For now, Cohen will enjoy finally winning a divisional series.
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