It was a tough mission for the Mets bullpen on Saturday.

They’ve already been taxed this week trying to get into the postseason and get past the Brewers in the Wild Card series. So, what were they up against against the Phillies in Game 1 of the NLDS? Well, not only did they not know what they were getting from Kodai Senga -- who hadn’t made a start since July -- but they had to try and match zeroes with Phillies ace Zack Wheeler.

And you know what? It wasn’t always pretty, but four relievers came in and got the job done, and then some.

“Our bullpen, I don’t know if they’ve gotten enough credit over the last few games,” Brandon Nimmo said after the game. “We wouldn’t be in that situation if big ol’ [David] Peterson doesn’t come in, does his thing. He closed a game in Milwaukee and then coming in to throw multiple innings for us, something he hasn’t been asked to do in his career.

“Our whole bullpen, Reed [Garrett], [Ryne] Stanek, [Phil] Maton, all those guys did amazing and gave us a shot.”

Senga pitched two innings, allowing one run, but the bullpen put up scoreless inning after scoreless inning to allow the Mets offense a chance to come back on Saturday. And when Wheeler was out, they pounced for five runs in the eighth inning before the bullpen closed it out and give New York a 1-0 series lead.

“Our win probability charts are going viral right now,” Garrett said. “We’ve all been saying this. There’s no quit in this team, there’s nothing but fight. We’re going out there doing everything we can, Scratching and clawing. Keeping it close. Everyone is pulling on the same rope. It’s a privilege to be a part of this team.”

Garrett was warming up in the second inning in case Senga faltered but after the Mets ace got through the second frame, Peterson came in to give the club three scoreless innings. Garrett then followed with two scoreless innings of his own.

“Petey. We knew we didn’t have him full because we used him two days ago as a reliever but we were counting on a good 50 pitches. He did a tremendous job,” Mets skipper Carlos Mendoza said. “Reed Garrett, then Maton and Stanek. Overall a good team win.”

Going back to Peterson, though. He was the first reliever out of the pen and the lefty starter -- now playoff reliever -- was asked to keep the score 1-0 with Wheeler putting up a dominating performance.

The Phillies ace allowed just one hit over seven scoreless innings, including getting 30 swing and misses, the most in a playoff game since 2019. It was the bullpen’s job to hold the line until the Mets offense can find a way, and Peterson was at the head of it.

“Everybody that we needed was ready to go,” Peterson said of the mentality of the bullpen heading into the game. “The offense continued to battle until we can get Wheeler out of the game and get to their bullpen and able to get runs across. Every guy knew their job. If you got the ball you had a job to do and guys executed and got it done.

“We take a lot of pride in putting up those zeroes, especially in a close game like that. Felt like we needed to keep it close and do our part, and let the offense continue to fight until they could break through.”

After taking the first game on the road, the Mets have now taken home-field advantage in this series. The five-run eighth put them over the top, but the reason the Mets won Saturday was thanks to the bullpen keeping it close.