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Friday was the first game of the wild-card round and Marte Gras all rolled into one for the Mets.
Starling Marte pronounced himself healthy enough to play after 4 ½ weeks sidelined by a fractured middle finger, and the Mets felt it was worth the gamble to activate the veteran outfielder for the best-of-three series against the Padres.
“In a situation like this you kind of have to suck up the pain, because it’s a significant situation,” Marte said after pregame drills at Citi Field. “You kind of have to fight through it.
“[Team officials] asked me how I felt and they trusted me to give them an honest answer. At this point in the season every player is playing with pain so when you go out there on the field you forget about that pain and right now it’s really about going out there and going to play.”
The decision was reached Thursday to activate Marte, whose absence from the lineup might have been most noticed last weekend as the Mets were swept in three games in Atlanta that ultimately cost them the NL East title. Before he was cleared for a return, Marte faced Tommy Hunter and lefty Phillip Diehl in a simulated game.
