Given a chance to outclass one of the other greatest National League East teams of all time, the 1986 Mets bested the 1995 Braves, 4-2, in a Dream Bracket 2 quarterfinal series. They are one of four teams still alive and will next face the 1975 Reds with a finals berth at stake.

The Mets’ other entrant, the 1969 club, lost in its opening-round series against the 1997 Marlins. But the ’86 Mets rolled through the 2018 Rockies, 1998 Padres and 1994 Expos in frequently dramatic fashion, before knocking off a '95 Braves team featuring Hall of Famers Chipper Jones, Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine and John Smoltz.

• Box score and game summary

The Dream Bracket featured 64 entrants, two from each active franchise plus the ’94 Expos and three Negro Leagues teams. Each round features a best-of-seven series between clubs in a single-elimination format. The simulated competition, featuring many of the greatest teams in baseball history, is being produced by Out of the Park Baseball 21, MLB‘s most realistic strategy game (PC and Mac).

• Full bracket and info

Here’s how the Mets advanced to the semifinals.

• Complete Dream Bracket 2 rosters

Game 1: Braves 4, Mets 3 (12 innings)
The series began at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium, where Dwight Gooden outpitched Maddux to no avail. Entering with a one-run lead following Gooden’s seven innings of two-run ball, Roger McDowell blew a lead on a two-out Braves rally. The Mets and Braves traded more zeros until the 12th, when Fred McGriff singled off Rick Anderson to bring home Jeff Blauser for the walk-off run. Five Braves relievers combined to provide six scoreless innings of relief, including winning pitcher Brad Clontz.

Game 2: Mets 4, Braves 0
The Mets continued to have no trouble hitting Atlanta’s aces, battering Glavine for four runs in four innings. This time, they made the lead stand up thanks to four scoreless innings of relief behind starter Ron Darling, who was effective but inefficient. Gary Carter and Ray Knight, both of whom led the Mets’ offense in previous rounds, stayed hot with RBI hits off Glavine.

Game 3: Braves 5, Mets 2 (11 innings)
Braves relievers ran their scoreless streak to 16 straight innings, delivering five more at Shea Stadium behind Smoltz. After Keith Hernandez and Carter hit back-to-back homers off Smoltz in the first inning, the Mets did not plate another run to support Bob Ojeda. Instead, they lost the lead on Mark Lemke’s two-run double in the second inning, then the game on Charlie O’Brien’s pinch-hit, two-run single off Doug Sisk in the top of the 11th. Despite loading the bases against Clontz in the bottom of the inning, the Mets could not push across any runs as Tim Teufel flew out to end the rally.

Game 4: Mets 4, Braves 1
The Mets’ best pitching performance of the series came courtesy of Sid Fernandez, who struck out 12 Braves over seven innings of one-run ball. The only blemish on Fernandez’s line was a Marquis Grissom leadoff homer in the sixth. That tied the game at 1, but the Mets responded with a three-run rally off Steve Avery in the seventh. Mookie Wilson’s two-run triple gave the Mets the lead for good, Rafael Santana followed with a sacrifice fly, and the trio of McDowell, Rick Aguilera and Sisk combined on the final six outs. The one bright spot for Atlanta was again its bullpen, which extended its scoreless streak to 17 2/3 innings.

Game 5: Mets 3, Braves 0
Gooden, Randy Niemann, Anderson and Randy Myers combined to hold the Braves to three hits in a Game 5 shutout, putting the Mets one win away from another series victory. One of the most prolific offenses in NL East history again managed to dent one of the league’s finest pitching staffs, cracking Maddux for three more runs. Wilson contributed a pair of RBI hits and Lenny Dykstra added another to make a winner out of Gooden, who improved to 5-1 with a 2.53 ERA in Dream Bracket 2 play.

Game 6: Mets 5, Braves 2
The Mets didn't score a run off Atlanta’s bullpen in the series, but they did not have to. In the Game 6 clincher, Glavine allowed five unearned runs after Jones and Lemke committed back-to-back errors on ground balls in the fifth. The Mets capitalized when Carter followed with a two-run single and Wilson, who hit .333 with six RBIs in the series, capped the rally with a two-run hit of his own. Not to be outdone by Gooden, Darling struck out 11 to improve to 6-0 with a 1.45 ERA in Dream Bracket 2 play. Jesse Orosco worked around two walks in the ninth to record his sixth save and the 1986 Mets, despite dropping two of their first three games to the ’95 Braves, rallied to advance to the semifinals.