Over the weekend, Major League Baseball was kind enough to debut its new wild-card format, a best-of-three series that replaced the old one-and-done scenario. As a New York Mets fan, this set up to be a very fun weekend for me, as my favorite baseball team was going to have three games at home to eliminate another team from the playoffs.

They were going to start their three top pitchers, all three of whom could start anywhere in the league. They were facing the San Diego Padres, who made a monster trade at the deadline to land Juan Soto from the Washington Nationals, and yet still limped to the playoffs, winning just 89 games and finding themselves 22 games behind the National League West’s Los Angeles Dodgers.

My Mets had won 101 games, which actually tied them with the Atlanta Braves for the best record in the National League East, but they were in the wild-card scenario because they dropped a key three-game series with the Braves recently.

Still, with Max Scherzer, Jacob deGrom and Chris Bassitt going on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, respectively, the scales, at least in my eyes, were tipped in the Mets’ favor.

Then Friday night happened.

Scherzer, who had earned his 200th career win during the season, faced Josh Bell in the first inning. Bell had been absolutely awful since arriving alongside Soto, and he had never even had a postseason at bat prior to Friday, because he was a member of the Pittsburgh Pirates until the summer that followed the Nationals’ World Series title.

With a man on base, and two men out, a betting man would still pick Scherzer to win this matchup. Instead, Bell hit a home run.

It had to be an anomaly. After all, this is “Mad Max.” He does not make mistakes like this.

In the second inning, something even worse happened.

Trent Grisham carried his bat to the plate with two men out. A 2015 draft pick of the Brewers, Grisham was one of the few Padres who had been even worse than Bell. He hit just .184 on the season with 17 home runs and just 53 RBI.

This should have been an easy out. Instead, all that Scherzer and the rest of the Mets could do was stare in disbelief as Grisham launched a ball out of Citi Field like he was Aaron Judge.

From there, things settled for a couple of innings, at least until the Padres leadoff man, Jurickson Profar came to the plate. Another guy who had just been okay this season, batting .243 with 15 home runs, Profar does not scare most pitchers in the league.

However, as he approached the plate with two men on and one out, Profar was determined to help his team get the lead. He launched a ball over the fence, doubling the Padres’ lead from three to six runs.

Two batters later, Manny Machado added to the lead with a home run of his own, meaning Scherzer had given up four home runs. By comparison, he had only surrendered 13 all season prior to Friday.

Saturday, the Mets returned to action with deGrom on the mound. Surely this would go better. deGrom had been limited to just nine starts in 2022 due to recovery from injury, but still, this is deGrom, the winner of the Cy Young in both 2018 and 2019.

After Mets shortstop Francisco Lindor gave the Citi Field crowd something to cheer about in the top of the first inning with a solo home run, things felt good. Right up until Grisham stepped to the plate in the third inning.

For the second straight night, Grisham took a Mets’ ace out of the ballpark, dropping my heart into my lap. I was stunned watching the ball carry over the fence.

Thankfully, Mets first baseman Pete Alonso lifted the crowd off their feet again in the fifth inning with his solo home run. From there, the Mets found a way to add four more runs on the board in the bottom of the seventh to force a third and deciding game.

In the third and deciding game on Sunday, the Padres sent Joe Musgrove to the mound. He came in with a 10-7 record with a 2.93 earned run average (ERA). The Mets countered with Bassitt. He was 15-9 with a 3.42 ERA.

This seemed elementary to me. Bassitt held the advantage, and he was pitching in New York. This should have been a shoe-in.

But, that is why they play the game. The Padres scored twice in the top of the second inning, once in the fourth and fifth, and finally added two more in the eighth.

The Mets, well, they combined for one hit, by Alonso. Starling Marte drew a walk two batters before Alonso, but National League batting champion Jeff McNeil failed to bring either of them home.

It remains stunning. Closer Edwin Diaz earned his 200th save this season. Alonso led the National League in RBI, while setting a new team record in the process. Lindor broke the Mets’ RBI record by a shortstop.

Yet, fans and the team will be watching the rest of the playoffs from home.

I fully invested in the Mets this season. After all, they were either leading the division, or at least in striking distance of it all season. They won the second-most games (101) in franchise history.

Yet, all I can say is this: at least they weren’t eliminated in just one game.