MLB

New York Mets at Milwaukee Brewers

· NLWC - Game 3
New York Mets
89-73, 43-38 Away
Final
4 - 2
Milwaukee Brewers
93-69, 47-34 Home

Mets advance in playoffs with 4-2 win over Brewers as Alonso homers to spark 9th-inning rally

Michael Cole calls Pete Alonso's HR probably the biggest in Mets history

With their latest thrilling comeback in the decisive Game 3 against Milwaukee, the Mets advanced in the playoffs for the first time since winning the 2015 National League pennant. They moved on to a best-of-five Division Series beginning Saturday in Philadelphia against the NL East champion Phillies.

It will be the first postseason meeting between the heated rivals.

“This has been unreal. What a ride,” Alonso said. “I’m just excited to help keep this team alive.”

The slugger became the first major leaguer to hit a go-ahead homer when his team was trailing in the ninth inning or later of a winner-take-all postseason game, according to OptaSTATS.

“This is something that you practice as a kid in the backyard,” Alonso said.

The NL Central champion Brewers, making their sixth playoff appearance in seven years, still haven't won a postseason series since reaching Game 7 of the 2018 National League Championship Series.

This loss will be particularly painful.

“I love this team,” manager Pat Murphy said. “I love them. I'll never be able to duplicate 2024. It didn't end the way we wanted to. It ended tragically, actually.”

Milwaukee appeared to have the victory in hand after pinch-hitter Jake Bauers and Sal Frelick broke a scoreless tie by opening the seventh inning with back-to-back homers on consecutive pitches from Jose Buttó. Rookie right-hander Tobias Myers and three Brewers relievers combined on a two-hit shutout through the first eight innings.

In fact, 12 straight Mets had been retired when they entered the ninth against Williams, a two-time NL reliever of the year who had earned the save Wednesday in Milwaukee’s Game 2 victory.

But he wasn’t his normal self on this night.

“I'm not going to make any excuse,” Williams said. “I didn’t execute the way I needed to. They got the job done and I didn’t.”

Francisco Lindor opened the inning by working an eight-pitch walk. Mark Vientos struck out, then Brandon Nimmo singled sharply on an 0-2 pitch to put runners at the corners.

That brought up Alonso, who has 226 career home runs in six seasons but hadn't delivered an extra-base hit since homering on Sept. 19.

“I know Devin has great stuff,” Alonso said. “I've seen him pitch a ton. We were teammates in the WBC (World Baseball Classic). He's a tough AB."

After getting ahead 3-1 in the count, Alonso drove an 86 mph changeup to the opposite field over the wall in right. He put his fingers to his mouth in a “chef’s kiss” gesture as he rounded first base and gave New York the lead.

Alonso can become a prized free agent after the World Series, so it could have been his final plate appearance with the only professional franchise he's played for if the Mets had fallen short.

Instead, he sent them on to the next round with the biggest home run of his career.

“Pete Alonso was one swing away from people going crazy about him. And that’s what happened,” Lindor said.

Williams remained in the game but never regained his footing. Jesse Winker was hit by a pitch with two outs, stole second and scored an insurance run on Starling Marte’s single to right.

Winker, a former Brewer who was showered with boos throughout the series, screamed and slammed his helmet to the ground after sliding across the plate.

The ninth-inning rally continued New York’s storybook season. The Mets were 22-33 in late May but had the best record in baseball the rest of the regular season. They didn’t earn a playoff berth until scoring all their runs in the final two innings of an 8-7 comeback victory at rival Atlanta in the opening game of a makeup doubleheader Monday, the day after the regular season was supposed to end.

New York is the first team to clinch a postseason spot and a playoff series by winning both games after trailing in the ninth inning or later.

“With what’s transpired this season, it seems only fitting," Nimmo said. "We seemed down and out. At the beginning of the season, we were written off. Obviously it was compounded in April and May. Then we went on this just unbelievable run of being the best (team) in baseball for the next four months, having the team meeting, pulling ourselves up.

“And that’s kind of how this game was. This game, we were down and out for eight innings, and we just said, ‘You know what? We’re just going to keep shooting our shots until the end, and we’re going to see what happens.'”

Frelick led off the bottom of the ninth with a single, but Joey Ortiz struck out and Brice Turang hit into a double play to end the series.

“It sucks, plain and simple,” said Frelick, whose homer was his first since mid-May. "We got beat and it’s going to be something I think we all can remember as a group, though, going into next year.”

Edwin Díaz pitched 1 2/3 innings of scoreless relief to earn the win. David Peterson, making his first relief appearance this season, worked the ninth for his first major league save.

The game started out as a pitchers’ duel between Myers and New York left-hander Jose Quintana. Myers pitched five shutout innings, while Quintana held the Brewers scoreless through six.

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New York went 6-7 against the Phillies during the regular season and finished six games behind them in the division standings.

How can I watch New York Mets vs. Milwaukee Brewers?
  • TV Channel: Mets at Brewers 2022 MLB Baseball, is broadcasted on ESPN.
  • Online streaming: Sign up for Fubo.

Matchup Prediction

Brewers: 59.3%
Mets: 40.7%
*According to ESPN's Basketball Power Index

Scoring Summary

9th Inning Turang grounded into double play, shortstop to first, Frelick out at second.
9th Inning Ortiz struck out swinging.
9th Inning Frelick singled to left.
9th Inning Peterson relieved Díaz
9th Inning Taylor in right field.
9th Inning Bader in center field.

Statistics

https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/teamlogos/mlb/500/nym.png&h=100&scale=crop&w=100&location=originNYM https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/teamlogos/mlb/500/mil.png&h=100&scale=crop&w=100&location=originMIL
1 Games Played 1
1 Team Games Played 1
2 Hit By Pitch 0
8 Ground Balls 13
9 Strikeouts 9
4 Runs Batted In 2
0 Sacrifice Hit 0
5 Hits 7
1 Stolen Bases 5
1 Walks 3
0 Catcher Interference 0
4 Runs 2
0 Ground Into Double Play 1
0 Sacrifice Flies 0
32 At Bats 33
1 Home Runs 2
0 Grand Slam Home Runs 0
9 Runners Left On Base 16
0 Triples 0
1 Game Winning RBIs 0
0 Intentional Walks 0
1 Doubles 1
15 Fly Balls 11
0 Caught Stealing 0
136 Pitches 153
0 Games Started 0
0 Pinch At Bats 1
0 Pinch Hits 1
0.0 Player Rating 0.0
1 Is Qualified 1
1 Is Qualified In Steals 1
9 Total Bases 14
35 Plate Appearances 36
162.0 Projected Home Runs 324.0
2 Extra Base Hits 3
2.1 Runs Created 4.6
.156 Batting Average .212
.000 Pinch Hit Average 1.000
.281 Slugging Percentage .424
.188 Secondary Average .455
.229 On Base Percentage .278
.510 OBP Pct + SLG Pct .702
0.5 Ground To Fly Ball Ratio 1.2
2.1 Runs Created Per 27 Outs 4.6
27.0 Batter Rating 28.0
32.0 At Bats Per Home Run 16.5
1.00 Stolen Base Percentage 1.00
3.89 Pitches Per Plate Appearance 4.25
.125 Isolated Power .212
0.11 Walk To Strikeout Ratio 0.33
.029 Walks Per Plate Appearance .083
.031 Secondary Average Minus Batting Average .242
8.0 Runs Produced 4.0
1.0 Runs Ratio 1.0
0.4 Patience Ratio 0.5
0.2 Balls In Play Average 0.2
73.0 MLB Rating 77.3
0.0 Offensive Wins Above Replacement 0.0
0.0 Wins Above Replacement 0.0

Game Information

American Family Field

Location: Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Attendance: 41,594 | Capacity:

2024 National League East Standings

TEAM W L PCT GB STRK
Philadelphia 95 67 .586 - W1
Atlanta 89 73 .549 6 W1
New York 89 73 .549 6 L1
Washington 71 91 .438 24 L1
Miami 62 100 .383 33 W4

2024 National League Central Standings

TEAM W L PCT GB STRK
Milwaukee 93 69 .574 - L1
St. Louis 83 79 .512 10 W1
Chicago 83 79 .512 10 L1
Cincinnati 77 85 .475 16 W1
Pittsburgh 76 86 .469 17 L1
Full Standings