Mets relishing chance to clinch a playoff series at Citi Field for the first time ever

Wednesday afternoon marks the fourth game the Mets have played at Citi Field with the chance to advance in the postseason with a win…but a win tonight would be the first time they've actually done it.

Since the stadium opened in 2009, they've lost the one-game 2016 NL Wild Card, lost the deciding Game 3 of the 2022 NL Wild Card Series to a Padres team they could see in this year's NLCS, and, even on their run to the 2015 World Series, they lost Game 4 of the Division Series (before winning Game 5 in LA) and were on the road when they swept the Cubs in the NLCS.

Fourth time's the charm?

"It means a lot to all of us that we have this opportunity. But we're facing a really good team. We've got to go out there, execute, and play well. Hopefully that's the case," manager Carlos Mendoza said before Game 4. "For me as a manager, I've got to give credit to the players, I've got to give credit to the coaches, to the training staff, everyone in here. Like I said, it's not about me. I have really good people here. This is a product of the organization doing things the right way and having quality people here in the building. Credit to all of them."

One thing a win also would mean tonight? Pete Alonso gets at least two more games at Citi Field before heading into free agency, adding on to the "is this the finale?" intrigue of the last few weeks.

"I mean, it would be fantastic to get it done. But we've got to stay within ourselves and focus on the task at hand, pitch-to-pitch, out-to-out, inning-to-inning," Alonso said after Game 3. "I believe if we can do that, stay right there in the groove of things and don't try to do too much in each moment, I think we'll be able to get it done."

"Yeah, it would be huge, but at the end of the day we've just got to win. That's all that really matters," Sean Manaea, who pitched a gem in Game 3, added. "If that's here, it would be amazing. If not, then we've just got to finish it up."

The 2022 Mets watched as the Phillies got one break and one roll all the way to the World Series, and surely have to be thinking, 'why not us?'

Nine innings from now, we'll know if Citi Field will be rocking again next week, or if it's going to take a Game 5 to keep the Phils from their third straight NLCS.