Mets, Phil Maton blow late lead to Brewers, setting up winner-take-all Game 3 on Thursday
Willy Adames #27, Garrett Mitchell #5, and Rhys Hoskins #12 of the Milwaukee Brewers celebrate after Mitchell hit a home run in the eighth inning against the Mets during Game 2 of the NL Wild Card Series at American Family Field on Oct. 2, 2024 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Credit: Getty Images
MILWAUKEE — Two days into October, the Mets’ season is back on the brink.
Phil Maton’s meltdown Wednesday night doomed the Mets in a 5-3 loss to the Brewers, evening the best-of-three NL Wild Card Series at one win apiece.
That sets up a winner-take-all Game 3 on Thursday, still at American Family Field. The winner will advance to face the Phillies in the NL Division Series. The loser goes home for the offseason.
"We’ve been responding to adversity all year," Pete Alonso said. "I’m really excited for this challenge tomorrow. I know they’re equally as excited. This is excited. This is what playoffs are all about: Two great teams going at it . . . Yeah, sure, we would’ve loved to win this one, but that’s baseball, unfortunately."
Said Francisco Lindor: "They played better than us the last three innings."
The deciding sequence in the equalizer came in the bottom of the eighth, with the Mets up by one and Maton called on for his fourth appearance in five days. Manager Carlos Mendoza had just put in his leading-late defense: Harrison Bader in at center, Tyrone Taylor shifting to right, Starling Marte out of the game; Luisangel Acuna in at second base, Jose Iglesias shifting to third, Mark Vientos out of the game.
Milwaukee’s first batter, Jackson Chourio, launched the third pitch for a tying home run — his second of the night, both to the opposite field.
With the not-quite-sold-out Milwaukee crowd suddenly rejuvenated, Maton nearly escaped without further damage. But a two-out single from Willy Adames set up a go-ahead home run from Garrett Mitchell, who began the game on the bench and entered as a pinch runner for designated hitter Gary Sanchez a couple of innings earlier.
More so than normal, the Mets wanted this one. Mendoza had a nearly full bullpen at his disposal. They even were open to using lefthanded starter David Peterson in relief in lieu of his usual between-starts bullpen session. Closing out a sweep would have guaranteed them two days off before the NLDS — a valuable reset after an eventful several days.
“We’ll do whatever it takes to win today,” Mendoza said before the game.
But the offense stalled, finishing 2-for-11 with runners in scoring position and stranding nine men on base. They didn’t score at all after the second inning.
"We played a really good game," Mendoza said. "We put pressure on them. We took the extra base when we needed to. I think we just didn't get the big hit....But overall, I thought we played really well."
The Mets had the advantage for most of the game. Facing the Brewers for a second time in six days, lefthander Sean Manaea did a lot well — better than the last time around.
On Friday, in his personal regular-season finale, Manaea got knocked around for six runs (five earned) in 3 2/3 innings. Milwaukee’s speedy runners ran wild on him, too, as he again struggled to control the running game.
This time, though, he lasted five innings and held them to two runs (six hits). He struck out four and walked none. And the Brewers didn’t register a single stolen base attempt while he was in the game.
Manaea made a concerted effort to trick opposing runners, Mendoza said before the game. Mendoza and catcher Francisco Alvarez recently have blamed the pitchers’ inability to hold runners for the team’s collective inability to throw them out, so Manaea needed to clean it up.
Two variables that factored into his ability to do so Wednesday: Changing up his delivery rhythms/times to the plate — holding the ball for longer, for example, or in one instance picking up his leg and waiting a beat before continuing with his pitch — to make it difficult for runners to run. And he threw sinkers on average two out of every three pitches, a very high rate. That gave Alvarez the best chance to get the ball (and get rid of it if necessary) quickly.
Chourio accounted for the first run off Manaea, with a tying solo home run to lead off the bottom of the first. And Brice Turang created the second run in the fifth by sneaking a double down the leftfield line and advancing to third on a groundout and home on a sacrifice fly.
The Mets reached Milwaukee righthander Frankie Montas for three runs (one earned) in 3 2/3 innings. Both rallies were emblematic of their season, with a bunch of small moments going their way to create a difference.
The first-inning version was a mini-rally: Lindor walk,Vientos infield single, Brandon Nimmo run-scoring single that bounced past diving first baseman Rhys Hoskins.
The second-inning version was even more fortunate, beginning with Marte reaching on Montas’ missed catch error as he covered first base. Taylor dropped a bloop single into left-centerfield. Marte and Taylor scored, respectively, on Alvarez’s single and Lindor’s sacrifice fly.
Tim Healey is the Mets beat writer for Newsday. Born on Long Island and raised in Connecticut, Tim has previously worked for the South Florida Sun Sentinel, the Boston Globe and MLB.com. He is also the author of “Hometown Hardball,” a book about minor league baseball in the northeast.
