Mets keeping focus on Brewers series after escape from Atlanta

MILWAUKEE — The Mets beat the hurricane out of Atlanta, losing only one game in their town of terror and leaving mostly dry and completely alive — both in reality and in the standings. So that’s better than past trips there. 

The likelihood is the Mets will have to endure an unwanted return excursion to Atlanta to play a game or even two Monday, which is especially inconvenient since their potential postseason starts Tuesday. But let’s not worry about that now. They say they aren’t, which is really what counts. 

For today, the team from Queens is thrilled to be here in beautiful Milwaukee. While it’s inarguably a great place by a great lake — the city’s apt slogan — it isn’t normally known as a place where folks come for better weather. 

But while Atlanta dries out after facing down Hurricane Helene, it’s so perfect here that the roof at American Family Field was slated to remain open Friday night for the first game of a series that means everything to the Mets and practically nothing to the Brewers. 

While they haven’t played two straight days and haven’t won for four, things are still looking mostly positive for the Mets as they head into what was supposed to be the final series of the regular season but very likely won’t be. No analytics genius was on hand to provide the exact chances to avoid heading back to Atlanta for either one or possibly two games Monday, but they all know it’s going to take great play here — plus a little luck to avoid that return journey to Dixie, where they can expect the unusual brand of Southern hospitality the Braves often provide. 

“We’ve had a lot of weird stuff this season, so we’re going to just keep playing,” Mets baseball honcho David Stearns said of the Monday possibility. 

The message is they aren’t thinking about what looks inevitable and aren’t worrying about any future inconvenience. They will keep their focus on the series here. They also know — no matter the travel schedule — their playoff odds remain (slightly) to the positive. 

The Mets played a dud of a game in Atlanta before meteorologists advised them to beat it out of there, but they still hold a half-game lead on the Diamondbacks and a full-game lead on the Braves. Two out of these three teams get in, so the math works for them. 

“We control our destiny,” Mets star Francisco Lindor said. 

Lindor again made clear he likes their chances. To be fair, he’s always liked their chances. 

Yep, Lindor, Pete Alonso and a few others in that clubhouse, plus of course Stearns, who told The Post back in spring he believes this is a “playoff caliber” team, should be counted as true believers. (I’d like to take credit, too, but to be fair, I was a late convert — mid May — after really sizing up the roster.) 

The Mets’ mood, normally good, is probably brightened by their escape out of Atlanta, where they only felt a few raindrops before their departure. Once they got above the clouds, Adam Ottavino remarked, they knew they were OK. 

The other reason to feel extra hopeful is that while Stearns’ old Brewers team is excellent, it doesn’t care nearly as much about these games. No matter what happens here this weekend, the Brewers are locked into the No. 3 seed by virtue of their dominating an otherwise pedestrian NL Central (and also losing the season series to the Phillies, which means the tiebreaker goes to cheesesteaks over cheese land). 

The Brewers may be hosting the Mets again, but it could also be the Braves or Diamondbacks. So their incentive in this series borders on inconsequential. 

While not imperative for them, Milwaukee would prefer to make the Mets and Braves have to play Monday in Atlanta if either of those teams turns out to be their first-round opponent. (Yes, I checked, Brew Crew decision makers do somewhat relish the Mets and Braves wasting more bullets Monday, and losing more sleep those couple of nights — but not to the point where they will go all out and waste their own bullets.) 

As for the Mets, they aren’t thinking three days ahead. 

“We can’t really worry about Monday at this point,” Stearns said. “Whenever we finish on Sunday, they’ll tell us where we need to go, and if we need to go.” 

The Mets get a tiny break with the Brewers’ situation, as both the Braves and D-Backs face teams with slightly more to play for than opponent convenience. Atlanta is playing the Royals, who need one win (or a Twins loss) to wrap up a playoff spot. Arizona is playing the rival Padres, who need a win to secure the No. 4 seed and home field in round one. 

Anyway, the Mets should feel good about their situation, and themselves. After starting 0-5 and eventually falling 11 games under .500, this is still a pretty good situation. While it isn’t ideal, and any potential excursion to Atlanta is nothing to delight in, the Mets are in a lot better spot than most outside their own clubhouse expected.