Wild Wild Mets Join Party

Start spreadin’ the news? There may not be enough pages in New York’s hefty tabloids to handle all the news this week, because the Mets and Yankees are both in the playoffs for the first time ever.

The Mets kept the possibility of a Subway Series alive with a 5-0 victory over the Cincinnati Reds on Monday night in a one-game playoff to determine the National League wild-card team.

“It’s going to be pretty crazy,” Met pitcher Orel Hershiser said of the Yankees-Rangers and Mets-Diamondbacks division series matchups. “It’s a pretty intense city even without the playoffs. Now it’s going to be even crazier.”

The stage for such madness was set on an extremely cool and clammy evening at Cinergy Field, where a crowd of 54,621, along with Cincinnati bats, were silenced by crafty Met left-hander Al Leiter, who went the distance on a two-hitter and struck out seven in a gutty, 135-pitch effort.

Leiter, despite aggravating a left knee injury in the sixth inning, wasn’t overpowering, but he pin-pointed his pitches so precisely and changed speeds so effectively the Reds rarely made decent contact.

Leiter, who started Game 7 of the 1997 World Series for the Florida Marlins, retired 13 in a row from the third through seventh innings and did not allow a runner to reach second until Pokey Reese’s leadoff double in the ninth.

“I never thought about the fact we would have been eliminated had we lost,” Leiter said. “Never once did I stand on that mound in Pro Player Stadium against the Indians in 1997 and think this was our last chance. You’re just so locked in and confident in your ability to get the hitters out.

“Having postseason experience really helps. Every player should experience it.

“There’s something special about it that guys realize, the togetherness, the unity, the desire to win, and the realization that every pitch is of consequence.”

The Mets have been in that pins-and-needles mode for the past five days after losing seven in a row from Sept. 21-28 and blowing a four-game lead in the wild-card race.

At one point, Manager Bobby Valentine, whose Mets missed the playoffs by losing their last five games of 1998, said he should be fired if the Mets didn’t reach the postseason this year.

But the Mets bounced back over the weekend, sweeping a three-game series from Pittsburgh, including two one-run victories, to force Monday’s loser-goes-home playoff.

“If there was a monkey on my back, then I want to take him for a long ride,” said Valentine, who was told this past week his job was never in danger. “There’s a real sense of appreciation for these guys.”

Leiter felt the same toward Met second baseman Edgardo Alfonzo, who set the tone with a two-run home run in the first inning, walked and scored in the third and doubled home a run in the fifth.

“You’re mind-set going into a game like this is it’s going to be close,” Leiter said.

“A two-run lead that early helps you relax. No doubt, you can pitch differently.”

Alfonzo also made a nice catch of Dmitri Young’s liner up the middle with runners on first and third to end the game, sparking a group hug in the middle of the infield.

The celebration continued with champagne-and-beer showers in the visiting clubhouse, which seemed odd considering the Mets were about to board a plane for Phoenix and will undergo the sobering task of facing Diamondback ace Randy Johnson in Bank One Ballpark tonight.

Masato Yoshii will start for the Mets.

“It’s kind of crazy, but a lot of guys here have never celebrated anything, so it’s good to do this,” Met catcher Mike Piazza said.

“We were dead and buried last week, and now we’re playing like we have nothing to lose.

“Arizona has been kind of idle, they haven’t had a lot of nail-biting games like we’ve had the past week. Is that an edge for us? Maybe. We’ll see.”

The Reds, meanwhile, became the first team since the San Francisco Giants in 1993 to win 90 games or more and fail to make the playoffs.

That shouldn’t come as a shock, considering the pitching matchup Monday night.

Forced to burn his ace, Pete Harnisch, in Sunday’s game at Milwaukee, Red Manager Jack McKeon turned Monday night to right-hander Steve Parris, a pleasant surprise (11-3, 3.36 ERA) after being recalled from triple-A Indianapolis in May but a journeyman at heart.

Parris, who played nine full seasons in the minor leagues and was released by four teams before catching on with the Reds, was shaky from the start, giving up a leadoff single to Rickey Henderson in the first and Alfonzo’s two-run home run, his 27th, to straight-away center field.

The Mets then loaded the bases with two out in the third when Alfonzo walked, John Olerud doubled and Piazza was intentionally walked.

McKeon, managing with the urgency accompanying the do-or-die game, summoned left-hander Denny Neagle, who threw 100 pitches in six innings against Milwaukee on Friday and was the Reds’ probable division series Game 1 starter.

Neagle threw six pitches to Robin Ventura and Ventura did not swing once.

Two of the pitches were strikes, four were balls, and Alfonzo trotted home on the walk, giving the Mets a 3-0 lead.

Henderson hammered Neagle’s first pitch of the fifth off the foul pole in left for a home run, giving the Mets a 4-0 lead, and the Mets added another run off Danny Graves in the sixth when Rey Ordonez walked, took second on Leiter’s sacrifice bunt and scored on Alfonzo’s two-out double to left-center.

“Everyone expected us to lose after that seven-game losing streak,” Met center fielder Darryl Hamilton said. “We had to remember we won 90-plus games. We didn’t win that many games by luck.”