They wanted a bigger floor. They wanted to mingle.

"We're going outside!" Ryan Howard bellowed. "We're going outside! Come on! Let's go! We're going to yell at the fans!"

So the Phillies grabbed their champagne bottles and stuffed beers in their back pockets and headed out of the clubhouse, down the tunnel and onto the field, where they were greeted by thousands of fans, who had stayed in the stands to soak up the joyous atmosphere.

The Phillies had just clinched their first playoff berth since 1993 with a 6-1 victory over the Washington Nationals and the New York Mets' 8-1 loss to the Florida Marlins at Shea Stadium.

These Phillies, who were in first place for only the final three games of the season, made baseball history when they became the first team to overcome a seven-game deficit with 17 games to play to make the playoffs.

The Phillies will host the San Diego Padres or Colorado Rockies - who will play a one-game playoff today - in Games 1 and 2 of the National League Division Series on Wednesday and Thursday at Citizens Bank Park. Games 3 and 4 will be played on the road; Game 5, if needed, will be played Oct. 9 at the Bank.

"I'm at a loss for words," said closer Brett Myers, who struck out Wily Mo Peña looking to end the game. "I had to step off the mound [in the ninth inning] to let the fans soak in what was about to happen."

"There hasn't been a playoff game from this baseball team since 1993," said shortstop Jimmy Rollins, who might have cinched the NL most-valuable-player award with a big first-inning single and a two-out triple in the sixth. "It was all on us. We had the chemistry. We had the makeup. We had the talent. We had a beautiful park to do it in. But something was missing, and that was winning that big game on the last day of the season."

The Phillies had been eliminated from the playoffs on the final day of the season in 2005.

They had been eliminated on the second-to-last day of the season in 2006.

Not this time.

This time, they took care of business, overcoming a season full of twists and turns and ups and downs. The Phillies opened the season 4-11, the worst record in baseball, but had the best record in the league the rest of the way. They overcame injuries to Freddy Garcia, Jon Lieber, Tom Gordon, Chase Utley, Myers, Howard and others. They overcame a pitching staff whose 4.73 ERA is the second-highest of any NL playoff team.

But most important, they overcame the Mets.