ATLANTA Brandon Nimmo runs. Always. Famously. His hustling has become an identifiable quirk, just about the only player in baseball who charges to first base after a walk. Which made Mondays top of the eighth inning of the opener all the more stunning. The swing was powerful, but so was the admiration. Nimmo, one of the clubs leaders and one of the more throwback players in the game, helped power the Mets into the postseason with some help in the ninth inning, as it turned out and powered his dugout into delirium at Truist Park in the first game of the regular-season-ending doubleheader. Brandon Nimmo launches a home run against the Braves on Sept. 30, 2024. Charles Wenzelberg/New York Post What will be remembered most will be Edwin Diazs eighth-inning implosion, between-inning plea to manager Carlos Mendoza and ninth-inning survival will be memorable. But the Mets would not have escaped and punched their ticket without the last blow of the top of the eighth, during which Nimmo transformed. After seven silent innings against Spencer Schwellenbach, the Mets finally awoke. Tyrone Taylors double knocked the Braves starter from the game and began a stretch of five consecutive hits. Francisco D'Juan Moore Jersey Alvarezs double provided the first Mets run. Lindors single scored another. Jose Iglesias hit tied the game at 3-3 before Mark Vientos sacrifice fly gave the Mets their first lead of the game. Explore More Nimmo then provided a cushion that would prove nece sary. Brandon Nimmo celebrates with Mets teammates. Charles Wenzelberg/New York Post The fourth pitch he saw from Raisel Iglesias was a middle-of-the-plate fastball that Nimmo was waiting for. He turned on it and watched it go. He dropped his bat. He took nine steps, walking his way to first base while gazing at the trajectory of a 405-foot bomb that reached the Chop House in right field. Its a huge moment, Nimmo said with a smile after the Mets and Braves split the doubleheader and both teams launched champagne-spraying celebrations. I knew it when I hit it. I knew it was gone. No disrespect to Iglesias. Just a huge moment. Brandon Nimmo after the Mets held off the Braves in the opener to clinch a playoff spot. Charles Wenzelberg/New York Post Those nine steps included a glance at a dugout whose roof had been blown off. They were all howling and jumping past the dugout, Nimmo said. It was just euphoria coming over you. The 6-3 lead that the Mets held would not last, but the image of the dugout will. Lindor, bad back and all, leapt the dugout railing and onto the field to lead the cheering. I had no idea I was going to do that, Lindor said after the Game 1 victory. I jumped somehow, someway. My back definitely feels much better if Im jumping over the fence. Billy Maples Jersey