MILWAUKEE -- The Cincinnati Reds are back in the playoffs for the first time since 2020 after overtaking the New York Mets for the National League's third and final wild card on the season's final weekend.
Cincinnati got to the postseason with plenty of help from the stumbling Mets.
The Reds blew an opportunity to clinch a playoff spot on their own Sunday when they squandered a 2-0 lead in a 4-2 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers. But they still got the NL's last postseason spot because the Mets lost 4-0 to the Miami Marlins.
Cincinnati and New York both finished the season with 83-79 records, but the Reds owned the head-to-head tiebreaker after going 4-2 against the Mets this season. This is the first time in franchise history the Reds have clinched a playoff berth on the final day of the regular season, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.
The Reds head to Los Angeles to begin a best-of-three Wild Card Series against the defending World Series champion Dodgers on Tuesday night. Cincinnati went 1-5 against the Dodgers during the regular season.
The Mets will stay home for the postseason, a humbling finish for a team whose $322.6 million payroll at the start of the season was the highest in the majors. Although the Mets owned a big league-best 45-24 record through June 12, they went 38-55 after that.
The collapse was an all-too-familiar outcome for many Mets fans, who endured similar endings in 2007 and 2008. In 2007, New York failed to hold a seven-game division lead with 17 games left in the season, and in 2008, they wasted a 3½-game advantage with 17 games remaining. Their playoff fate then was also pushed to the last game of the season, when losses to the Marlins ended their hopes.
The Reds' last postseason appearance came during the pandemic-shortened season of 2020. The last time they earned a playoff berth in a full season was 2013. They haven't won a playoff game since 2012 -- the longest active drought in the NL, according to ESPN Research -- and last won a postseason series in 1995.
According to Sportradar, the only other teams in the 162-game era to reach the playoffs with fewer than 84 wins were the 1973 Mets (82-79), 2005 San Diego Padres (82-80) and 2006 St. Louis Cardinals (83-78). The 1973 Mets and 2006 Cardinals both went on to reach the World Series, with the Cardinals winning it all.
Cincinnati's playoff berth adds one more line to Reds manager Terry Francona's Hall of Fame-worthy resume.
In his first season as Boston's manager, Francona led the 2004 Red Sox to their first World Series title since 1918. He led Boston to another World Series championship in 2007 and got Cleveland to Game 7 of the 2016 World Series.
Francona spent last year away from the game for health reasons but came back to manage the Reds. Now he's in the postseason again and crediting the togetherness of the organization for helping the Reds withstand adversity.
"I've never had somebody point a finger," Francona said before Sunday's game. "It's always, 'How do we figure it out?' I like that part of it. It doesn't mean you don't commiserate together. I about die some nights, but doing it the right way with people you care about, I enjoy that part of it."
The Reds benefited from the additions they made at the July 31 trade deadline. They boosted their lineup and infield defense by acquiring Miguel Andujar and Ke'Bryan Hayes. They also picked up starting pitcher Zack Littell, a move that enabled them to strengthen their bullpen by shifting Nick Martinez to a relief role.
But the Reds still struggled to separate themselves from the other wild-card contenders.
Cincinnati reached its high-water mark of 67-60 on Aug. 19, then went 8-16 over its next 24 games to fall below .500. Then the Reds made the late charge that landed them in the postseason.
The Reds won five in a row, including a four-game sweep of the playoff-bound Chicago Cubs. They followed that up by losing two straight at home to the Pittsburgh Pirates, but they won the final game of that series 2-1, with Noelvi Marte robbing Bryan Reynolds of a potential tying homer in the ninth inning.
Cincinnati was a game behind the Mets as it headed to Milwaukee to close the regular season, and the Brewers had won their past 13 series against the Reds. Quinn Priester started Friday's series opener for Milwaukee, and the Brewers had won the last 19 games in which he had pitched.
The Reds beat Priester 3-1 on Friday and ended up winning two of three in Milwaukee while the Mets were losing two of three in Miami.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.