Is all hope lost for Mariners? It wasn’t for the 1999 New York Mets

If the M's come back from two games out with three games to go, they wouldn't be the first team to do so. (AP)

The Mets were surging. They were all smiles on Sept. 19, 1999, after pummeling the Phillies into submission to take two of three in a weekend series. The Mets had won six of their past eight games and 11 of 15, whittling a six-game lead once held by the Braves to just one.

The high-flying Mets then traveled to Atlanta to begin their final road trip of the season. Disaster struck.

The Braves swept the Mets in three games. The lowly Phillies did the same during their next stop. New York had dropped all six games on its crushing trip. The Mets returned home to face the Braves once again and lost two of three. They had dropped eight of nine while the Reds took advantage and zoomed past them in the wild-card standings. The Mets had not bathed in playoff waters in a decade and it looked as if their promising season had slipped away.

New York only had three games to play in its season and trailed the Reds by two games. New York was hosting the Pirates for three while the Reds hit the road to take on the Brewers, who had suffered through massive pitching struggles on their way to a record that sat 14 games below .500.

On the very last Friday of the season the Reds fell to the Brewers on a Ronnie Belliard game-winning, 10th-inning single. Meanwhile, the Mets kept hopes flickering by securing a dramatic 11th-inning victory off the bat of Robin Ventura. The Mets destroyed the Pirates the next day 7-0 and the Reds lost again to the Brewers on Saturday 10-6.

What looked like a hopeless situation for the Mets had been transformed into a wild-card tie heading into the final game of the season. Two games wiped away in two days. The Reds bounced back on the final day to take Milwaukee 7-1. At Shea Stadium, the Mets pushed a run across in the bottom of the ninth inning to break a 1-1 deadlock to secure the win and force a one-game showdown in Cincy the very next day.

Al Leiter dominated for the Mets. The lefty shined while tossing a complete-game shutout, allowing only two hits. The Mets had amazingly punched their ticket to an NLDS matchup with the Randy Johnson-led Diamondback, who had coasted to the NL West title thanks to 100 wins on the season. The Mets quickly dispatched of the powerful Diamondbacks in four games.

The team that was two games back from a playoff spot with three to play had forced their way into the NL Championship Series. Their magical run would come to an end in Game 6 at the hands of the Braves on Oct. 19, 1999.

Nineteen days of playoff glory, a one-game playoff win, a series playoff win, playing for the right to go to the World Series. It all happened thanks to those final three days of the regular season for the Mets.

Their situation sounds familiar. It’s happened before. Can it happen again? Dare to dream.