MILWAUKEE — The New York Mets’ storybook 2024 season has not reached its final chapter.
It seemed only fitting that Pete Alonso helped keep an unforgettable plot going.
After a season full of triumphs, excitement and resilience, the tank appeared to read ’empty’ for the Mets in a must-win Game 3 in the National League wild-card series. Alonso, an unrestricted free agent after 2024, made sure that his potential final game in a Mets uniform would not be in Milwaukee.
After a lifeless eight innings, Alonso rose up and kept the Mets’ season alive with a go-ahead three-run home run off Brewers closer Devin Williams in the ninth inning, to snatch an improbable 4-2 victory and take the National League Wild Card Series on Thursday night at American Family Field.
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‘It’s just something that you practice in the backyard as a kid,’ Alonso said. ‘You go through those scenarios as a little kid. It’s like, ‘All right, you’re in the playoffs down by a few runs.’ I don’t know. Words can’t explain. It’s just unreal.’
Another historic Mets home run
Alonso’s long ball, which narrowly sailed over the right field wall, was the Mets’ first home run since Francisco Lindor, who’s riding adrenaline and champagne as the best painkiller for his injured back, hoisted the Mets into the playoffs with a ninth-inning two-run shot against the Braves’ Raisel Iglesias last Monday.
It was the most iconic highlight of Alonso’s career and one that will live on in Mets lore for a long, long time.
‘At the end of the day, if Pete does this in the postseason, he’s going to get paid,’ Lindor said with a laugh. ‘Let Pete do his thing. Like Mendy said, he’s one swing away from taking off and he’s one of the best power hitters in the game. I’m just proud of him. He came in early and hit early outside and was just ready. He was ready for the moment.’
After a brilliant six innings for starter Jose Quintana, the Mets’ season nearly came unglued on two pitches.
In a full-count to lead off the seventh inning, reliever Jose Butto could not bury a changeup against Jake Bauers. The Brewers’ pinch-hitter made him pay by tagging a go-ahead solo home run to right field. On the very next pitch, Sal Frelick turned on a first-pitch fastball and hoisted it into the second deck in right field.
‘We continue to believe,’ Carlos Mendoza said. ‘As a team, we’ve been punched and knocked down, and we continue to find ways to get back up. We got punched yesterday (in Game 2). We got punched again today in the seventh inning, and we found a way.’
With a frenetic ninth-inning comeback, jump-started by a walk by Lindor and single from Brandon Nimmo, the Mets extended their season for at least one more week. They tacked on one more run on a Starling Marte RBI single to right field in the ninth.
Mets still believe after eight rough innings
Through the opening seven innings, the Mets could only muster two hits against the Brewers. Both were supplied by Lindor off Brewers starter Tobias Myers.
Lindor legged out a double on a sharp line drive to center field in the opening inning but was left stranded there after back-to-back strikeouts and a fly ball by Alonso.
Then, in the fourth, Lindor knocked a two-out single and advanced on a wild pitch, but Mark Vientos’ deep fly ball to right was tracked down by Frelick.
Across the fifth and seventh innings after Jesse Winker was hit by a pitch, the Mets recorded 12 straight outs against Myers, Trevor Megill, Nick Mears and Freddy Peralta. But these Mets have had a way all season long about coming up in the clutch moments.
‘The way that we got here is by not putting pressure on ourself and going and playing our game, coming with a game plan and then going and taking our shots,’ Nimmo said. ‘When we do that, we’ve been one of the best teams in baseball for those four months. The thought process was still, ‘Let’s just keep going.”
The Mets’ struggles sent the top of the order to the plate in the ninth against Williams who had thrown 12 pitches against the top of the Mets’ lineup in the Brewers’ 4-3 win on Wednesday. Alonso’s second hit in nine at-bats in the wild-card series advanced them one round further.
‘Especially in these big games, you’ve got to move on to the next pitch and make a positive impact, do the best you can, stay within yourself and execute,’ Alonso said.
Jose Quintana provides quality start
Jose Quintana provided the Mets with everything they could have hoped for in an elimination game.
The 35-year-old lefty, who was making his sixth postseason appearance in his 13th year in the league, kept the Brewers offense in check and buckled down when the pressure mounted.
Quintana allowed a baserunner in each of the first five innings but left each baserunner stranded. He finished with six scoreless innings, working around four hits and a walk while striking out five to keep a scoreless game going with three innings to go.
‘It’s huge,’ Mendoza said. ‘This is who Quintana is. He is a guy that has been in this game for a long time. There is a reason why he’s poised. He’s calm. He knows the situation. He knew what we were facing.’
The biggest stretch might have come in the fourth when Willy Adames reached on a soft chopper to third and moved to third on a stolen base and ground ball to Francisco Lindor. But Quintana induced soft contact in front of the mound and converted the final out.
After Butto gave up the lead, Edwin Diaz had a pair of runners in scoring position in the seventh but struck out William Contreras to get out of trouble. For the second time this week, Diaz completed two innings, only this time he did not allow a run and struck out three.
It led to an unlikely save situation for David Peterson, who watched Alonso’s home run sail by while preparing to enter the game in the bullpen. The left-hander gave up a leadoff single but struck out Joey Ortiz and got Brice Turang to ground into a double play on the first pitch of his at-bat. It was the first save of Peterson’s career.
‘It’s unbelievable. We’re moving on, so that’s the biggest thing,’ Peterson said. ‘I’m happy we got the job done and looking forward to the next stage.’
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