ATLANTA -- It took an extra day, a roundabout route and a fair bit of agita, but the Mets are going to the playoffs. Their pulse-pounding 8-7 win over the Braves in Game 1 of a doubleheader on Monday ensured them a Wild Card berth.

If the Mets win Game 2 as well, they’ll head to San Diego for the Wild Card Series beginning Tuesday. Otherwise, they’ll fly back to Milwaukee to play the Brewers, while the Braves will also clinch and play the Padres. In the first scenario, Arizona would clinch the final National League berth. In the second, the Diamondbacks would be eliminated.

The win was New York’s 89th of the season, capping a year that saw them lose its first five games and come within three outs of a sixth consecutive loss. As late in the year as May 29, the Mets were 11 games under .500 and seemed likely to become Trade Deadline sellers.

But the team rallied behind some unlikely sources -- Grimace, the McDonald’s mascot, who became a Citi Field celebrity; veteran infielder Jose Iglesias, who boosted the Mets with his play on the field and his musical stylings off it; a rebuilt bullpen; and a newfound attitude. Armed with a “nothing to lose” mantra, the Mets climbed steadily up the standings from June through September.

One last bit of adversity presented itself this week, when the Mets had their final two games of a late-September series in Atlanta postponed due to stormy weather. They subsequently lost two of three in Milwaukee to set up Monday’s unique proposition: win one last game against their longtime rivals to advance to the playoffs, or get swept and go home.

The Mets took the former route, beating the Braves to secure a spot in the postseason tournament for just the second time since their World Series run in 2015. And they did so in dramatic fashion, rallying for six runs in the eighth before losing the lead when Edwin Díaz gave up four in the ninth. But the Mets showed their resilience one last time, taking the lead for good on a Francisco Lindor two-run homer off Pierce Johnson in the ninth.