The New York Mets stunned the Milwaukee Brewers, scoring four runs in the ninth inning to win Game 3 of the National League wild-card series, 4-2. With the dramatic win, they move on to face the rival Philadelphia Phillies with a trip to the NLCS on the line.
Here are three takeaways from the Mets’ incredible victory.
Pete Alonso comes up clutch as Mets continue to look like a team of destiny
This year’s wild-card round has already shown that baseball can be outrageously unpredictable. But the Mets’ ride continues to defy even the most optimistic of baseball enthusiasts.
In what could have been his final at-bat with the franchise, first baseman Pete Alonso recorded his biggest hit in a Mets’ uniform, hammering a go-ahead, opposite-field three-run homer in the ninth. Those moments are reserved for teams of destiny, and New York has displayed all the signs of being one.
On top of the Mets’ incredible run just to make the postseason, they advanced to the NLDS despite being the first team in MLB history to play five games over four days, including three playoff games, per OptaStats. Meanwhile, history may be on their side, as six of the last eight teams to defeat the Brewers in the postseason have gone on to win the World Series.
Mets offense will need to wake up in NLDS
Alonso’s homer changed the Mets’ fortunes in an instant. But if they want to continue onto the NLCS, the bats as a whole will need to come around.
Before the ninth-inning heroics, aside from Francisco Lindor (2-for-3), the Mets’ offense was ice-cold, going 0-for-24 with eight strikeouts. Meanwhile, New York had gone 15 consecutive innings without a run, and no one other than the All-Star shortstop had recorded a hit since the seventh inning of Game 2.
Going on collective cold streaks won’t serve the Mets well against the Phillies.
Philadelphia’s pitching is more than capable, finishing with the eighth-best ERA in MLB (3.85), led by Cy Young award candidate Zach Wheeler. Meanwhile, if the Mets aren’t hitting, they may need more than an inning’s worth of offense to get by, as the Phillies ranked seventh in homers (198) and fifth in runs per game (4.84).
Brewers lived and died by the long ball
The Brewers relied on the home run far too often in the wild-card round, resulting in their season’s premature end. Milwaukee scored six of its 11 runs off long balls and finished the series against the Mets an abysmal 4-of-25 with runners in scoring position.
Starter Tobias Myers and relievers Tylor Megill, Nate Mears and Freddy Peralta combined to keep the Mets scoreless through eight innings. Still, an inconsistent offense let the Brewers down, leaving the door open for a Mets’ comeback.
It’s a heartbreaking lesson that Milwaukee will have all offseason to ponder.
