Baseball can be so cruel. The Mets injected hope into New York with a spirited sprint to the playoffs, posting the best record in baseball during a six-week stretch and overcoming injuries that could have crippled their season. The Mets then escaped trouble so many times in Wednesday’s win-or-go-home National League wild-card game against the San Francisco Giants that they appeared capable of conquering the October legend Madison Bumgarner.

Yet the postseason demons emerged once again for Jeurys Familia, the Mets’ closer. After seven dazzling innings from starter Noah Syndergaard and an impressive escape by Addison Reed in the eighth, the Mets turned to Familia, their All-Star closer who led the major leagues in saves this season.

In nearly 78 regular-season innings, Familia gave up just one home run. But Giants third baseman Conor Gillaspie, who started only because of an injury to one of his teammates, smashed a three-run homer with one out in the ninth inning, giving the Giants a 3-0 win that ended the Mets’ improbable run.

“I trust myself,” Familia said afterward, his head held high, calm and at ease with a throng of reporters surrounding him in the Mets’ clubhouse. “I was thinking I was going to make it.”