Thanks to CC Sabathia and Ryan Braun, it suddenly didn't matter that the Milwaukee Brewers spent much of the past month squandering a shot at their first playoff appearance since 1982.

Sabathia delivered a dominant four-hit complete game in his third consecutive start on three days' rest, and Braun hit a tiebreaking homer in the eighth inning to lead the Brewers past the visiting Chicago Cubs, 3-1, yesterday.

Milwaukee won the NL wild card less than a half-hour later when the New York Mets lost to Florida, 4-2 -- ending 26 years of frustration for the often-overlooked franchise. "It's our time," Sabathia said.

Sabathia, who came to the Brewers in a trade with Cleveland in July, celebrated by climbing on top of the Brewers' dugout and dousing fans with champagne.

Milwaukee will face Philadelphia in the first round of the playoffs. The NL Central champion Cubs will play the Los Angeles Dodgers.

It was a last-minute recovery for the Brewers, who took drastic measures after blowing the 5 1/2-game wild-card lead they held going into September: They fired manager Ned Yost with only two weeks left to go.

But the details of the Brewers' wild ride to the playoffs don't matter now. "As good as we feel right now, everything that's happened this month, everything that's happened this week is in the past now," J.J. Hardy said. "We're in the playoffs, and I don't think we could be happier."

Neither could thousands of their fans, who stayed in Miller Park to watch the Mets' game on the giant video board in center field and cheered wildly as the Marlins recorded the final out.

Streamers and confetti fell from the rafters and fireworks went off in the outfield as interim manager Dale Sveum and the Brewers began showering each other with champagne in the middle of the clubhouse.

It was a much different atmosphere in New York after Scott Schoeneweis and Luis Ayala served up back-to-back homers in the eighth inning that put the pesky Marlins ahead, and the Mets (89-73) lost out to Milwaukee (90-72) for the NL wild card on the last day of the season.

"We failed. We failed as a team," David Wright said. "There's no pointing fingers. There's no excuses. We as a unit didn't get the job done."

What followed was an awkward scene at Shea. The Mets brought in former greats from Tom Seaver and Willie Mays to Dwight Gooden and Darryl Strawberry for closing festivities that felt more like a funeral than a party.

Still, a vast majority of fans stayed in their seats and cheered their old favorites during a ceremony that lasted nearly an hour.

"It would have been better if we would have won today, but I don't think it spoils the celebration," general manager Omar Minaya said.

"What's going on out there, it's about the history of this building, the history of the players, the history of this organization."

Several Cubs, including Carlos Zambrano and Daryle Ward, sat in the Cubs dugout and watched the last few outs in the Mets game and the crowd's reaction.

Cubs manager Lou Piniella avoided the on-field mayhem, but called to congratulate Sveum afterward.

"They took a tough loss in Chicago, Cincinnati beat them a couple in a row, but they bounced back," Piniella said.

Thanks in large part to their larger-than-life pitcher. "Three starts, three days' rest, 115 pitches, he goes right through the top of the Cubs' order," Brewers principal owner Mark Attanasio said.

If Sabathia was feeling any pressure yesterday morning, he certainly wasn't showing it.

"It was his game," Sveum said. "It was his year. It was his two months. It was his game to give his as long as he could possibly go. He was fine. He's just a special human being."

"Now we just go out and have fun and see what happens," Sabathia said.