Edwin Diaz created drama but Carlos Mendoza had ‘no doubt’ he would close it out

A smiling Edwin Diaz summed it up well.

“I’ve had my ups and downs,” Diaz said hours after the final pitch at a Citi Field still teeming with players and fans who did not want to leave, “but at the end of the day, I’ve been able to do my job.”

He has done his job, thrown more pitches than he ever has in such a short span and ensured a dramatic Mets season has reached peak drama.

Diaz was not sharp — not even close — but the closer successfully closed the Mets’ 4-1, NLDS-clinching win over the Phillies on Wednesday.

David Peterson followed Jose Quintana and Reed Garrett and was excellent for 2 ¹/₃ innings in which he only threw 23 pitches.

With a three-run lead and the No. 6 hitter due for the Phillies, Carlos Mendoza opted to pull the lefty and insert one of the most electric — and combustible — arms in the game.

“It was always going to be Diaz. He’s the best in the league,” Mendoza said of a pitcher who continues to scare but continues to escape. “And once Petey got through the eighth, it was Díaz’s game. I had no doubt.”

The doubts might have crept in after the first two batters. Diaz threw a total of 10 pitches to J.T. Realmuto and Bryson Stott, who both walked to bring the game-tying run to the plate.

He did not know why his location was lacking. Pitching coach Jeremy Hefner and Francisco Alvarez visited with Diaz with a simple enough message: Aim in the middle.

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“They said, ‘Hey, your fastball is looking great today. You’ve got a lot of life on your fastball, just throw it right in the middle,’ ” Diaz recalled. “‘We are winning by three runs, and I don’t think that they can hit your fastball with a lot of power.’

“So that’s what I did. I threw my fastball right in the middle and got the outs.”

Four of Diaz’s five pitches to Kody Clemens, who struck out, were fastballs. All four of his pitches to Brandon Marsh, who flied out, were fastballs. Three sliders helped get two strikes on the imposing Kyle Schwarber, but Diaz reached back and threw 101-mph heat past Schwarber for strike three.

“Even after the two walks,” Mendoza said, “I knew he was going to get it done, and he did. Here we are celebrating.”

They celebrated in Atlanta, too, where Diaz coughed up a three-run lead in the eighth, watched Francisco Lindor drill the Mets back ahead in the ninth, and Diaz told Mendoza, “I got this s–t,” before recording the final three outs.

They celebrated in Milwaukee, too, where Diaz walked two of the first three batters he faced but survived and eventually gave way to Peterson for the save.

The drama remains, as does the end result.

“Today I just came here and did my job,” Diaz said.