NL Wild Card: Brewers Rally for Dramatic Victory over Mets

The Brewers celebrate their win over the Mets in Game Two of the 2024 NL Wild Card Series

Photo by John Fisher/Getty Images

October 2, 2024

Brewers 5, Mets 3

A pair of homers in a three-run eighth inning led the Milwaukee Brewers to a 5–3 comeback victory over the New York Mets Wednesday night at American Family Field in Milwaukee, sending the NL Wild Card Series to a winner-take-all third game.

Jackson Chourio homered twice for the Brewers Wednesday, tying the game both times. The go-ahead clout came from Garrett Mitchell, who entered the game in the sixth as a pinch-runner for designated hitter Gary Sanchez. He hit it following a two-strike single by Willy Adames, who fouled off two tough curveballs on a 1–2 count before belting the single.

“You saw what our team’s about, what they’ve been about all year,” Brewers manager Pat Murphy told reporters. “A lot of contributors, a lot of guys gave us what they had, and they didn’t quit.”

Brewers – Mets Game Summary

The Mets took a 1–0 lead in the top of the first on an RBI single to right by Brandon Nimmo off Brewers starting pitcher Frankie Montas. Chourio hit his first game-tying homer on the third pitch of the bottom of the first, a liner to the right-field seats off Mets starting pitcher Sean Manaea.

The Mets regained the lead in the top of the second thanks to a Francisco Alvarez RBI single and a Francisco Lindor sacrifice fly, making the score 3–1. It became a 3–2 game in the bottom of the fifth after another sacrifice fly, this time by Blake Perkins.

Reed Garrett and Ryne Stanek pitched a scoreless sixth and seventh, respectively, for the Mets. Phil Maton took the hill for the Mets in the eighth but did not fare as well as his relief brethren. Chourio welcomed him to the game with a no-doubt game-tying homer off the facing of the second deck in right. Three batters later, with two outs and the bases empty, Willy Adames singled to right, bringing up Mitchell for his home-run heroics to complete the scoring.

What Went Right for the Mets

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Took Two Early Leads

The Mets twice put the Brewers in an early hole, taking a 1–0 lead in the top of the first and a 3–1 lead in the top of the second.

Defense

Shortstop Francisco Lindor robbed Sal Frelick of a hit in the top of the second. Frelick squibbed a grounder up the middle, slightly to the second-base side of the bag. Lindor scampered to his left, scooped it up, twirled, and fired to first to nail Frelick by less than a step.

In the fifth, Lindor made another nice play. William Contreras ripped a two-hop rocket to short. Lindor couldn’t get it on the hop but kept the ball in front of him. This allowed him to gather the ball from his feet and fire a one-hop strike to first, with Pete Alonso expertly scooping the low throw out of the dirt in time to retire the hustling Contreras by less than a step.

Catcher Francisco Alvarez gunned down the speedy Mitchell as he tried to steal second in the sixth.

Took Advantage of Mistakes

The first-inning run came after a leadoff walk, and the runs in the second came after a missed catch error by Montas, who covered the bag at first on a Starling Marte grounder. Brewers first baseman Rhys Hoskins made a nice play to his right and made an on-target underhand flip to the hustling Montas, but Montas did not reach out far enough to gather the throw. It tipped off his glove and allowed Marte to reach. Two singles later, Marte scored the Mets’ second run of the game.

Starting Pitching

Sean Manaea gave the Mets five strong innings, allowing two runs on six hits, including the first Chourio solo homer. He struck out four while walking none, tossing 86 pitches/60 strikes.

What Went Wrong for the Mets

Missed Opportunities to Blow Game Open

The Mets left nine men on base, seven in scoring position. In the both the second and sixth, they left two in scoring position, with the sixth inning seeing Jose Iglesias strike out with the bases loaded.

“(We) understand (we’re) facing elite pitching,” manager Carlos Mendoza said in the postgame press conference. “That’s why it’s important for us to put pressure on the bases and take the extra base when we need to, because those runs are going to be hard to come by. We just didn’t get that last one today. But overall, I thought we created traffic. I thought we had really good at-bats overall.”

The Bottom of the Eighth

Maton allowed four hits in the eighth. One was wiped out by a critical double play, but the other three hits resulted in runs. Two of the three hits were the second Chourio homer and the Mitchell homer.

“I liked the matchup, Maton to Chourio,” Mendoza said. “He just left that cutter all over the plate. Wanted to make him chase, and he didn’t do that.”

What Went Right for the Brewers

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Undaunted

The Brewers came back from two separate deficits to win the game, something that lines up with “undaunted,” manager Pat Murphy’s one-word philosophy. “Man, I’m proud of this team,” Mitchell said in the postgame press conference. “We just continue to fight. It doesn’t matter the score, doesn’t matter how many outs, doesn’t matter the situation. We’re ready to go.”

Relief Pitching

Starting pitcher Frankie Montas only recorded 11 outs, forcing five relievers to pitch a combined 5 1/3 innings. The five relievers — Trevor Megill, Joel Payamps, Jared Koenig, Joe Ross, and Devin Williams — held the Mets scoreless the whole way, combining to allow two hits and three walks. This meant that they only allowed five of the twenty-one hitters they faced to reach base, resulting in an impressive 0.938 WHIP on the evening.

What Went Wrong for the Brewers

Early Mistakes

As mentioned earlier, the Brewers had a leadoff walk in the first inning and a catching error in the second inning come back to haunt them.

Quick Hits

According to Sarah Langs, Chourio is the second-youngest player in postseason history with a multi-homer game. His age is 20 years and 205 days, older than only Andruw Jones. Jones was 19 years, 180 days when he homered twice for the Atlanta Braves in Game One of the 1996 World Series, a 12–1 rout of the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium.

According to Major League Baseball, Chourio is the second player in AL/NL history to hit two game-tying homers in the same postseason game. The other? Babe Ruth in Game Four of the 1928 World Series, which the Yankees won, 7–2, to sweep the St. Louis Cardinals and win their second straight title. Ruth ultimately hit three homers in that game.

Also from Sarah Langs, Chourio Wednesday became the second rookie with multiple game-tying or go-ahead homers in a postseason game. The first was Evan Longoria, who accomplished the feat in Game One of the 2008 ALDS to lead his Tampa Bay Rays to a 6–4 victory over the Chicago White Sox in their first-ever postseason game as a franchise.

Non-Jackson Chourio Edition

This was the first time the Brewers have won a postseason game in which they trailed entering the seventh inning since Game Four of the 1982 World Series, when they represented the American League against the St. Louis Cardinals. They entered the bottom of the seventh of that game with a 5–1 deficit before scoring six unearned runs, all with two outs. Since that two-out rally off Dave LaPoint, Doug Bair, Hall of Famer Jim Kaat, and Jeff Lahti, the Brewers had lost 20 straight postseason games when trailing entering the seventh.

Since the current best-of-three Wild Card Round became a permanent fixture in 2022, this is only the second Wild Card Series to go to a third game. The other also involved the Mets. They lost Game One of the 2022 NL Wild Card Series to Yu Darvish and the San Diego Padres before winning Game Two and losing Game Three. Game Two was Jacob deGrom’s last game as a Met, and Game Three was the Joe Musgrove game.

Quotes

“We’ve shown it the whole year. We’ve been knocked down, and we have the ability to get back up. Here we are. Got punched today. We’ll get right back. They’re a good ball club, man. They’re a good team. We’ll be ready to go.” — Carlos Mendoza on how he feels going into Game Three

“(Willy’s) been doing it all year. He’s a true leader on and off the field. We see it day in and day out, and I would say you guys see it too, the presence he brings. He’s always prepared in the big moment.” — Garrett Mitchell on Willy Adames’ two-out hit in the eighth

Looking Ahead

Joe Ross earned the win as Phil Maton took the loss, both in relief. Devin Williams pitched a 1–2–3 ninth to notch the save.

The Mets and Brewers will play the decisive third game Thursday at American Family Field. Brewers right-hander Tobias Myers (9–6, 3.00 ERA in the regular season) will face Mets lefty Jose Quintana (10–10, 3.75 ERA in the regular season). First pitch will be at 6:08 pm Central on ESPN.