THE METS HAVE CLINCHED THE N.L. EAST!!!

The Mets (88-67) have defeated the Cincinnati Reds (63-91) by a score of 10-2 this evening at Great American Ballpark, and in the process have ensured a spot in the playoffs for the first time in nine years.

Well, it’s been a long, crazy ride since 2006. I’ve graduated middle school, high school and have completed half of college since the last time the Mets made the playoffs.

Since then, the Mets have made my stomach churn, they’ve broken my heart, they’ve kept me up at night, and things seemed mighty bleak for years.

Going into this season, I thought the Mets would be competitive and put up a fight, but never could I have imagined this. The Nationals were the favorites to win the World Series, and I thought it would be improbable to leapfrog them in the standings.

At times this season, I was very frustrated. I thought it was just going to be another one of those seasons, but with all of our pitchers, I knew that if we just got a few bats, we would be a force to be reckoned with.

The non-trade of Wilmer Flores, the additions of Juan Uribe and Kelly Johnson, the bullpen upgrades of Tyler Clippard and Addison Reed, the very important acquisition of Yoenis Cespedes and the return of El Capitan David Wright have seen us gain 11.5 games in the standings, and have now lead us to a National League East title!

We’ve waited for this for a long time, and we deserve a winning team to be proud of.

What a damn magical season, and it’s only beginning.

Offense:

The Mets teed off against Reds’ starting pitcher John Lamb, chasing him from the game after just the second inning.

Lucas Duda came to the plate in the first inning with the bases juiced, and promptly unloaded them as he hit a rocket over the right field fence, giving the Mets a four spot before Matt Harvey even took the mound.

In the second, Curtis Granderson slammed his 25th home run of the year to put the Mets up 5-0, his second in as many days.

Michael Cuddyer tacked on two more runs in the third inning, as he hit a gapper into left center field to score Daniel Murphy and Lucas Duda.

David Wright in poetic fashion, hit a three run home run in the top of the ninth to put the icing on the cake and extend the Mets lead to 10-2, which would prove to be enough as the Mets would secure their title in the bottom of the ninth!

Pitching:

Matt Harvey was the man at task to lead the Mets to their sixth division championship today, and despite one inning in which he let up two runs, he was able to buckle down and actually pitched very well.

The Dark Knight would go 6.2 innings, allowing just the two runs on nine hits, while striking out six and walking zero.

Addison Reed finished off the seventh, and Tyler Clippard kept the Reds at bay in the eight despite letting up two hits.

Appropriately, Jeurys Familia pitched the ninth inning in a non-save situation to seal the deal for the Mets, and despite allowing two hits, he was able to strike out Jay Bruce to end the game.

Thoughts:

This feeling is incredible. I can’t even begin to explain it. I don’t know whether to laugh, to cheer, or to cry tears of joy. I have been emotionally invested in this team since I was six years old. This is me and my dad going to the games, this is me not being able to sleep at night, this is so many things that have lead up to this very moment. I knew it was going to happen, and now that it’s here, there is no better feeling in the world. I love the Mets. Always have, always will. There’s still a lot of work to be done, but we’ve got this. I have full faith in this team. LGM.

On deck:

The Mets take on the Reds for the series finale tomorrow afternoon, as they look to overtake the Dodgers for home field advantage in the NLDS. Jacob deGrom (13-8, 2.64 ERA) takes on Keyvius Sampson (2-5, 6.45 ERA) and first pitch is at 1:10 PM.