Mets have one win on the road in the MLB playoffs after defeating the Brewers

MILWAUKEE — Francisco Lindor looked back Sunday, just in time to help the Mets get a needed win, before boarding a charter flight to Atlanta.

In his third game since returning from a lower back strain, Lindor energized a stagnant lineup by reaching base three times (including a home run) in the Mets’ 5-0 victory over the Brewers at American Family Field.

After 160 games, the Mets have finally arrived: They win once in their scheduled doubleheader against the Braves on Monday and receive admission to the postseason as a wild card. Let yourself be swept and the dream is dead.

The double-header one day after the end of the regular season for the other 28 teams became necessary after two games between the NL East rivals were postponed by Hurricane Helene and an entire weekend of games solved nothing other than the Padres securing the top wild card -Secured place in the NL. Two more places remain open.

The Mets would have won Sunday with a win and a loss against Arizona, but the Diamondbacks refused to fold and beat the Padres 11-2. The Braves lost to the Royals. That gave the D’backs 89 wins and the Mets and Braves 88 wins each. The Mets and Braves each held the tiebreaker against the D’backs.

The Mets needed a big pitching performance and got one. David Peterson allowed just one hit in seven shutout innings in which he had eight strikeouts and three walks.

The Brewers are tied to the NL’s No. 3 seed for the postseason and would face the Mets in the wild-card round starting Tuesday, with the Mets splitting the doubleheader and leaving Atlanta as the higher seed.

A Mets win in the doubleheader (putting them higher seeded than the Braves) would put Mets-Padres ahead. Both best-of-three wild-card series begin Tuesday, with the higher-seeded host hosting all three games.

Brandon Nimmo delivered an RBI single in the first to give the Mets a 1-0 lead. Lindor led off and stole second before Nimmo’s single. Nimmo also stole second and Pete Alonso walked in the inning.

Francisco Alvarez’s RBI single in the second gave the Mets a 2-0 lead. JD Martinez doubled to start the rally, breaking an 0-for-36 drought before Alvarez knocked in his 45th run of the season. Tyrone Taylor followed with a single before Lindor singled in the Mets’ third run.

Alvarez’s sacrifice fly in the fifth gave the Mets a 4-0 lead. Mark Vientos started the rally with a single and Alonso was thrown to the ground before Starling Marte received an intentional walk.

Lindor hit a home run in the sixth inning, increasing the Brewers’ deficit to 5-0. The blast was the 32nd of the season for Lindor, who heard chants of “MVP” from fans sitting in the third base dugout.

Peterson escaped trouble in the first inning by striking out Eric Haase after allowing a single to Jackson Chourio and striking out Willy Adames. The left-hander rolled from that point and handed the ball to Phil Maton for the eighth time.

Maton allowed two baserunners in the inning, but managed to score the final out with Edwin Diaz warming up in the bullpen. Diaz, who hadn’t pitched in a week, pitched a scoreless ninth.