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Bradford Doolittle, ESPN Staff WriterOct 1, 2024, 08:46 PM ET
- Sports reporter, Kansas City Star, 2002-09
- Writer, Baseball, Baseball Prospectus
- Co-author, Pro Basketball Prospectus
- Member, Baseball Writers Association of America
- Member, Professional Basketball Writers Association
MILWAUKEE — After three games in two cities over two days behind almost too many comebacks to count, the New York Mets suddenly find themselves one game away from the National League Division Series.
The Mets overcame two early deficits in the first game of their wild-card series against the Brewers on Tuesday, stringing hits, walks and hit batters into a three-run second inning and a five-run fifth, and now have NL Central champion Milwaukee on the ropes after an 8-4 win.
“It’s hard to be tired when you’re playing playoff baseball,” third baseman Mark Vientos said. “I had a bunch of energy. I know all of us did. We were all excited, and we got the job done.”
All of this came about 24 hours after New York completed its regular season with a doubleheader in Atlanta that featured the Mets’ thrilling come-from-behind, 8-7 win in Game 1, thanks to Francisco Lindor‘s dramatic go-ahead two-run homer in the ninth.
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After losing the second game in Atlanta, the Mets indulged in a postgame celebration in the visiting clubhouse at SunTrust Park, took a flight to Milwaukee and by midday Tuesday were filtering into American Family Field. It just sounds exhausting, and when the Brewers grabbed a quick 2-0 lead in the first inning, few would have been surprised if the contest turned into a runaway.
Well, few outside of the Mets’ dugout would, because resilience has become perhaps the defining trait of the 2024 Mets.
“It’s a playoff game,” Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said. “Everybody’s tired. But once you play ball, you’ve got to go.”
The key blow during New York’s three-run second was Jesse Winker‘s two-run triple into the right-field corner, struck after the Milwaukee crowd booed Winker with vigor as he approached the plate.
Video from the broadcast captured Winker exchanging not-so-pleasantries with Brewers shortstop Willy Adames, his teammate in Milwaukee just last season, after Winker slid into third base. What was that all about? Winker wasn’t saying.
“I don’t really want to speak on it,” Winker said after pausing to consider the question. “I just want to focus on the game tomorrow.”
Perhaps Winker was just tired. You couldn’t blame him, but the veteran, picked up midseason by the Mets, has seen his team respond to adversity too many times not to chip in.
“I just feel like it’s the story of this team,” Winker said. “There’s been a bunch of things thrown at this team, and [we’re] just responding. It’s go time. You’re in the playoffs.”
After the long day in Atlanta a day earlier, the Mets’ bullpen plan was delicate, and that might have worked to New York’s advantage in the end. Because while Luis Severino struggled during the early innings, Mendoza stuck with him because he didn’t want to dip into his reliever corps too early. Severino found his footing and ended up giving the Mets six innings, giving up four runs and earning the win.
“The bullpen appreciated that,” Severino said. “When they came back to the dugout, they were really happy about me getting those six innings, coming back at there and trying to grind through that outing.”
On the other side, the well-rested Brewers pulled their top starter, Freddy Peralta, after only four innings and 68 pitches. Peralta gave up three runs, so the Brewers decided to start their parade of relievers early in the tradition of so many postseason games of this era.
Alas, the relievers who replaced Peralta — Joel Payamps and Aaron Ashby — gave up five runs between them during a two-out New York rally in the fifth, closing out the scoring. Ashby failed to retire any of the five batters he faced.
“[Peralta] is probably 18 pitches from where his limit is,” Brewers manager Pat Murphy said. “We take the lead in the game. We’ve got a full bullpen. It’s a playoff game. We’d like to get him to five because of our bullpen usage over the week, [but] you don’t do that. You’re playing to win tonight.”
Perhaps Peralta wouldn’t have caught his stride as Severino did, and maybe it wouldn’t have mattered because these Mets, who were 11 games under .500 in early June, are riding a wave that shows no signs of cresting.
“Yeah, we went back to Atlanta, played a doubleheader, came back here,” Mendoza said. “But nobody cares. We were ready to go. It showed. We’ve got to be ready to do it again tomorrow.”
