Max Scherzer’s perfection Monday night served as the ideal springboard for the Mets to celebrate a playoff berth and the right-hander’s 200th career win. 

In his return from the injured list, Scherzer retired all 18 batters he faced over six innings and struck out nine in helping the Mets clinch their first postseason appearance since 2016 with a 7-2 victory over the Brewers at American Family Field. 

The Mets, with their fifth straight victory, maintained their one-game lead on Atlanta in the NL East race, but are assured at least a wild-card berth. They joined the Dodgers and Astros (both of whom already clinched their respective divisions) among MLB teams officially in the postseason. 

Afterward, the team hoisted champagne glasses in a low-key celebration of the team’s success and Scherzer’s milestone win. Scherzer was presented with “Ace of Spades” champagne that he shared with teammates. 

“This team has been tenacious — it never gave up the whole year,” said team owner Steve Cohen, who addressed the players postgame. “This is a special group of guys. They love each other. They are a team that enjoys playing together and you can see it.” 

Jacob deGrom and Max Scherzer are the Mets star pitchers. But Chris Bassitt, the right-hander, whose fastball merely lives in the low-to-mid-90s, has been the most reliable Mets starter throughout this season.

The overlooked and quietly overpowering No. 3 starter silenced the Pirates for six solid innings in the Mets’ 5-1 victory in front of 40,111 at Citi Field on Saturday night. Bassitt has set a career high in starts, with 28, and only appears to be gaining strength.

With the victory, the Mets (92-55) remained one game clear of the Braves, who beat the Phillies.

Since being swept by the Cubs, the Mets have won three straight against the Pirates going into the series finale Sunday, which will end a streak of 16 straight games against sub-.500 opponents. The Mets, who have gone a disappointing 8-7 in the stretch, will visit Milwaukee beginning Monday.

They can thank their pitching staff for the rebound in this series, in which they have held the Pirates to five runs in three games. Bassitt, an encouraging David Peterson and Adam Ottavino combined for 12 strikeouts Saturday.

The New York Giants won a back-and-forth game with the Carolina Panthers on Sunday, 19-16. The Giants are now 2-0 for the first time since 2016. 

Graham Gano provided the winning points with a 56-yard field goal to snap a 16-16 tie with 3:34 to play. The kick ended an 11-play, 37-yard, 7:12 drive. Gano went 4 of 4 on field goals, including 56 and 51-yard kicks.

“I’m happy for the guys,” said head coach Brian Daboll. “Graham made all his kicks, some big kicks there at the end for us. DJ led the team down to get some extra points there, is a huge difference.  Our defense played well, started out fast. Wish we could have gotten more points on the board early on after those two turnovers. But all in all, good team win.”

Carolina (0-2) had a chance to tie or go ahead, but a blitzing Julian Love sacked Carolina quarterback Baker Mayfield on third-and-5 to force a punt with 2:06 to play. The Giants were able to run out the clock, keyed by an 11-yard run by quarterback Daniel Jones on a third-and-2 that sealed the victory.

Daniel Jones completed 22 of 34 passes for 176 yards and one touchdown. Saquon Barkley ran 20 times for 68 yards.