On Sep. 30, the New York Mets split a doubleheader with the Atlanta Braves, securing their spot in Major League Baseball (MLB) postseason as the number six seed. They headed to Milwaukee to face the National League Central Division Champions: the Brewers.
The Mets started the best-of-three Wild Card series on Oct. 1, giving them no rest following the doubleheader. This set them up to potentially play five games in four days if the series reached game three.
This lack of rest seemed clear early in game one, as the Mets struck out twice while the Brewers scored two runs in the first inning. Despite this, the Mets bounced back in the second inning when former Brewer Jesse Winker ripped a two-run, game-tying triple and later took the lead on a sacrifice fly from Starling Marte. This lead was short-lived, as the Brewers scored two more in the fourth inning–with runs batted in (RBI) from rookie Jackson Chourio and William Contreras to score 4-3. This back-and-forth matchup continued as José Iglesias tied the game with an RBI single in the fifth. The Mets blew the game wide open, scoring five runs in the fifth inning for a comfortable 8-4 lead. This score held the rest of the game, giving the Mets a 1-0 lead in the Wild Card series.
The Mets started hot in game two, taking an early 1-0 lead on an RBI single from Brandon Nimmo. However, Milwaukee quickly answered as Chourio blasted a game-tying leadoff home run. The Mets and Brewers engaged in another back-and-forth battle, with the Mets holding a narrow 3-2 lead into the bottom of the eighth. That inning began with another game-tying home run from Chourio, and four batters later, Garrett Mitchell sent American Family Field into a frenzy with a go-ahead two-run home run to put the Brewers on top. The game ended with a final score of 5-3, with the Brewers forcing a game three of this Wild Card Series. This means that the winner of the game will advance to the National League Division Series (NLDS).
The three-game Wild Card format was introduced by MLB in 2022, and since then, only two series have reached a third game, both of which included the Mets.
Game three was a pitchers’ duel between the Mets’ Jose Quintana and Brewers’ Tobias Myers. Both held the opposition scoreless, with Quintana going six innings and allowing four hits and Myers going five innings and allowing two hits. The Brewers finally broke the scoreless tie in the seventh when pinch-hitting Jake Bauers hit a solo home run. Only one pitch later, Sal Frelick sent a no-doubt home run into right field for back-to-back home runs, giving a 2-0 lead.
The Brewers sent in closer Devin Williams in the ninth, looking to send them to the NLDS. The Mets got two runners on with only one out and the “Polar Bear” Pete Alonso up to the plate. With three balls and one strike, Alonso sneaked a pitch just over the right field wall for a three-run go-ahead home run in the ninth. Marte provided another insurance run to give the Mets a 4-2 lead. But Alonso’s home run was all they needed. The Mets closed the game and eliminated the Brewers, securing their spot in the NLDS.
Alonso’s home run increased the Mets’ chance of winning by 66.1 percent. He is also the first player in MLB history to hit a go-ahead home run when down in the ninth inning or later in a winner-take-all postseason game.
The Mets will now face their arch-rivals, the National League East Division Champion Philadelphia Phillies, in the postseason’s second round. The NLDS is a best-of-five series, starting in Philadelphia on Saturday, Oct. 5.
