Mark Vientos hit a crucial two-run single during a five-run rally in the fifth inning, helping the New York Mets beat the Milwaukee Brewers 8-4 in the first game of the NL Wild Card Series on Tuesday.
The Mets only secured a playoff spot after coming back from a three-run deficit to win the first game of a doubleheader in Atlanta on Monday, one day after the regular season was supposed to end.
Now, they are one win away from heading to Philadelphia for the NL Division Series.
“I knew we were in a good spot when we boarded the plane,” manager Carlos Mendoza said. “We celebrated. We got out of the clubhouse in Atlanta, and you could tell right away our mentality was next day, next game.”
Since Major League Baseball switched to the current postseason format in 2022, the team that wins Game 1 has advanced in each of the eight Wild Card Series. Only one of those series has gone to a deciding third game.
Milwaukee has lost 10 of its last 11 playoff games, a streak that started with their Game 7 home loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 2018 NL Championship Series.
Jesse Winker and pinch-hitter J.D. Martinez both contributed two runs for the Mets. Winker, who struggled last year with a .199 batting average for the Brewers, faced boos every time he came up to bat.
He also seemed to have words with Milwaukee shortstop Willy Adames after hitting a two-run triple in the second inning.
Brice Turang went 3 for 4, Jackson Chourio was 2 for 4, and William Contreras had two RBIs for the Brewers. According to MLB.com, the 20-year-old Chourio became the youngest player to get two hits in his playoff debut.
The NL Central champion Brewers had been 5-0 against the Mets this season before losing 5-0 to them in their regular-season finale on Sunday.
That loss sent the Mets to Atlanta, where they needed to win just one game in the doubleheader to make the playoffs. They secured their spot by scoring all their runs in the last two innings of an 8-7 win over the Braves.
New York was back on the field in Milwaukee just 22 hours after the doubleheader, and the Mets showed the same determination on Tuesday.
“It’s hard to be tired when you’re playing playoff baseball,” Vientos said. “I had a bunch of energy. I know all of us did. We were all excited, and we got the job done.”
After the Brewers scored two runs in the first inning, the Mets quickly responded with three runs in the second. When the Brewers took the lead again with two runs in the fourth, the Mets answered back with five runs in the fifth inning.
Milwaukee had just gone ahead 4-3 heading into the fifth when manager Pat Murphy took out Freddy Peralta, who had thrown 68 pitches and retired the last nine batters he faced. He then turned to a relief group that had the second-best bullpen ERA in the majors this season.
“It had been an emotional (68) pitches,” Murphy said. “What’s he got, 20 left? He’s usually between 83 and 90 when he kind of loses a little bit on his fastball. I didn’t want him to face those guys three times around.”
However, the decision backfired.
Starling Marte faced Joel Payamps and hit a drive that was caught by a leaping Chourio at the left-field wall. Then, Tyrone Taylor doubled to left on a flyball that Chourio misjudged, allowing it to slip off his glove.
With two runners on and two outs, Jose Iglesias hit a hard ground ball that first baseman Rhys Hoskins caught. Iglesias dove headfirst and beat Payamps to the bag for an infield single, allowing Taylor to score from second and tie the game.
Payamps blamed himself afterward for thinking the ball was hit closer to first base than it really was, which caused him to react too late.
“That’s a routine play that I failed to execute,” Payamps said through a translator. “Things kind of spiraled from there.” Aaron Ashby came in to replace Payamps but didn’t get any of the five batters out that he faced.
After Brandon Nimmo reached base on an infield single, Vientos hit a two-run single to right field. Ashby threw a wild pitch and intentionally walked Pete Alonso to load the bases before Martinez, batting for Winker, hit another two-run single to right.
“They’re gritty hitters, man,” Ashby said. “They’re two-strike, putting-the-ball-in-play and making things happen. … I’m coming in here that inning to strike guys out. I didn’t execute pitches the way I’m able to.”
The Brewers went down quietly after that. Chourio hit an RBI single in the fourth, but Mets pitchers retired the next 17 batters to finish the game.
New York starter Luis Severino bounced back well after a rough start. He allowed eight hits and four runs—three earned—in six innings to earn the win. José Buttó pitched two perfect innings, and Ryne Stanek retired the side in order in the ninth.
“We’re not satisfied,” Severino said. “We know the potential that we have in that clubhouse, and we want to go out there, and we’re going to fight. We’re going to fight until the end, and hopefully that end is going to be hopefully win the World Series.”
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