2024 National League Wild Card Series 1

2024 National League Wild Card Series

New York Mets 89 - 73 in the NL	2 - 1 Series Summary	Milwaukee Brewers 93 - 69 in the NL

Overview[edit]

The Teams[edit]

Managers: Brewers: Pat Murphy (murphpa99) | Mets: Carlos Mendoza

Brewers

Mets

Umpires[edit]

Alex Tosi, Chris Segal, Vic Carapazza, Alan Porter (crew chief), Mike Estabrook and Brennan Miller

Series results[edit]

Game	Score	Date	Starters	Time (ET)
1	New York Mets 8 Milwaukee Brewers 4	October 1	Luis Severino (1-0) Freddy Peralta (0-0)	5:32 pm
2	New York Mets 3 Milwaukee Brewers 5	October 2	Sean Manaea (0-0) Frankie Montas (0-0)	7:38 pm
3	New York Mets 4 Milwaukee Brewers 2	October 3	Jose Quintana (0-0) Tobias Myers (0-0)	7:08 pm

Results[edit]

Game 1 @ American Family Park[edit]

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Mets	0	3	0	0	5	0	0	0	0	8	7	1
Brewers	2	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	4	8	0
WP: Luis Severino (1-0); LP: Joel Payamps (0-1)
Home Runs: none

Attendance: 40,022

The first few innings of Game 1 were a see-saw affair, with both teams having at least two innings with multiple runs in the first five frames. The lead changed three times during that spell, but eventually the Brewers were unable to counter a five-spot by the Mets in the 5th, keyed by some sloppy defensive plays, and New York went on to an 8-4 win. By clinching a postseason slot in the first game of the previous day's make-up doubleheader against the Atlanta Braves, the Mets had been able to preserve one of their top starters, Luis Severino, to be available for this game, and while his performance was shaky, he gave the Mets enough innings to win the game and to keep them from digging into a bullpen that had worked very hard over the previous week just to get the team to this point. For the Brewers, who won their division by ten games, there were no such issues, as they had shaped their rotation to have their best starting pitcher, Wandy Peralta, available to start this game. He did not have one of his best days, however, being removed after just four innings.

After Peralta had retired the Mets in order in the 1st, the Brewers immediately put pressure on Severino as Brice Turang led off with a double and Jackson Chourio followed with a single. Next up was William Contreras, who singled as well, for the game's first run. This had the makings of a big inning, but the Mets were lucky to escape with just one more run as Severino continued to struggle to find his bearings: he struck out Garrett Mitchell for the first out, but then walked Willy Adames to load the bases; he got Jake Bauers to pop out to the catcher, but then hit Rhys Hoskins with a pitch, forcing in a second run before Sal Frelick hit a ground ball to 2B Jose Iglesias to end the inning. It was 2-0 for Milwaukee, but it could have been a lot worse, and as soon as the Brewers thought they had the game under control, the Mets roared right back. Their first two batters reached against Peralta in the top of the 2nd, Mark Vientos on a single and Pete Alonso on a walk, and both scored on a triple by Jesse Winker, tying the game. Starling Marte followed with a sacrifice fly to CF Mitchell, and New York now had the lead, 3-2.

Things stayed that way for a couple of turns at bat, until the bottom of the 4th when Frelick hit a lead-off double and Turang hit an infield single with one out, although Frelick could not advance. Chourio followed with a single, scoring Frelick with the tying run and advancing Turang to third. Turang scored the go-ahead run on a ground out by Contreras, and Milwaukee was back in the lead, 4-3. That did not last any longer than its first lead however, as the top of the 5th turned out to be the key inning of the game. Joel Payamps replaced Peralta on the mound, for reasons that must have made sense to manager Pat Murphy at the time, but that he was unable to explain clearly after the game (Peralta had only made 68 pitches and had seemingly settled down after his rough 2nd inning). In any case, the Mets immediately jumped on Payamps' offerings: Marte hit a ball to the left field wall, but Chourio made a nice leaping catch to rob him of a double, but the youngster then gave that right back when he misjudged a line drive hit towards him by the next batter, Tyrone Taylor, letting it fall for a double. The next ball was hit to him as well, but it was a routine fly ball by Francisco Alvarez which became the second out, with Taylor staying put at second base. Payamps then walked Francisco Lindor, not a bad move per se given how insanely hot Lindor's bat had been all year, and Iglesias followed with a grounder to 1B Hoskins. Payamps was late getting off the mound to cover first base, and by the time he caught Hoskins' relay, not only did Iglesias slide safely head-first into first base, but Taylor, sprinting all the way, had managed to score from second base, tying up the score once again. The Mets had just been gifted two extra outs - the inning should by rights have been over without a run either with Alvarez's fly ball or had Iglesias' grounder been fielded correctly - and they would make full use of the largesse. Aaron Ashby replaced Payamps on the mound, but he gave up a single to Brandon Nimmo to load the bases, and another single to Vientos that made 6-4. After a wild pitch and a walk to Alonso that loaded the bases again, J.D. Martinez pinch-hit for Winker and the veteran of countless clutch situations put the final nail in the Brewers' coffin with another timely single, this one to right, scoring two more runs. The score was now 8-4, and that's how it would stay until the end of the game.

Severino completed six innings, having thrown 105 pitches, then gave way to Jose Butto who tacked on two scoreless frames, retiring all six batters he faced. For the Brewers, Aaron Civale also had a good outing in long relief, handling the final three innings and giving up just one walk, but the Brewers were never able to mount any threat. Ryne Stanek also retired the Brewers in order in the 9th - after the Mets' big 5th inning, Milwaukee made 15 straight outs to end the game.

Game 2 @ American Family Park[edit]

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Mets	1	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	8	0
Brewers	1	0	0	0	1	0	0	3	x	5	11	1
WP: Joe Ross (1-0); LP: Phil Maton (0-1); SV: Devin Williams (1)
Home Runs: MIL - Jackson Chourio 2 (2), Garrett Mitchell (1)

Attendance: 40,350

The two starting pitchers in Game 2 were former teammates with the Oakland Athletics, back when that team was good, with Frankie Montas starting for Milwaukee and Sean Manaea for New York. Manaea had a much better outing and by the time he left the game after giving up just 2 runs in 5 innings, it looked like the Mets were on their way to a series sweep. However, that was without counting on the Brewers' young hitters taking things in their hands.

The Mets got on the board first and it all started with Francisco Lindor drawing a lead-off walk against Montas in the 1st. He was forced out at second base by José Iglesias, but Mark Vientos and Brandon Nimmo both followed with singles, giving New York a quick 1-0 lead. Montas recovered by getting Pete Alonso to ground into a double play, although he was helped by Alonso himself who tripped on his own bat on the way to first base, allowing Milwaukee to turn two. The Mets' lead was very short-lived however, as the Brewers' first batter in the bottom of the 1st, 20-year-old Jackson Chourio, homered to the opposite field on Manaea's third pitch of the game. In the 2nd, Montas created his own trouble, as after striking out J.D. Martinez, he induced a grounder to first by Starling Marte. The play was as routine as could be, practiced hundreds of time in spring training: Montas moved to cover first base, got there well ahead of the runner, 1B Rhys Hoskins' toss was right on the money - and Montas dropped it for an error! That opened the floodgates for New York. Tyrone Taylor followed with a single that moved Marte to third base, and Francisco Alvarez hit a single to center, with more aggressive baserunning resulting in a run and Taylor moving to third. Lindor then hit a sacrifice fly to left for a third run. Iglesias followed with another hit and took second when RF Sal Frelick tried to cut down Alvarez at third base, but the inning ended when Vientos flied out to Frelick.

It took a while for Milwaukee to respond, and during that time it looked like the Mets had done enough to win the game. The Brewers put a couple of men on in the 3rd, but could not get the big hit that would have driven them in, and in the 4th, Brewers manager Pat Murphy pulled his starter with two outs and a runner on second, calling on Trevor Megill to come in to pitch. The Brewers' relievers well all good that day, as they combined to pitch 5 1/3 innings without allowing a run. They gave up just two hits, although Joel Payamps did walk a couple of men in the 6th, one of them - Lindor - intentionally, loading the bases before getting out of the jam by striking out Iglesias. Before that, though, the Brewers managed to reduce the Mets' lead by a run in the 5th: Brice Turang led off with a double then went to third on a ground out by Chourio before Blake Perkins hit a sacrifice fly. All three players contributing on this run were youngsters, which would be a distinct pattern all game as the kids were much more productive than the veterans for the Brew Crew.

The score remained at 3-2 for a while as both teams called on their better relievers to come in to pitch. The issue for the Mets was how to get to closer Edwin Diaz - and preferably not before the 9th inning, because he had had to make a couple of unusually long outings in recent days just to get the Mets into the postseason, an experience that manager Carlos Mendoza would have preferred not to repeat. So Reed Garrett handled the 6th and Ryne Stanek the 7th, both of them doing their job very well, and Phil Maton was called in for the 8th. He turned out to be the weak link in the chain, however. Chourio was the first man up for the Brewers, and he hit his second homer of the game, almost to the same spot as his first - only deeper. The game was tied, and the crowd was finally into the game, after having been very quiet most of the evening. Perkins followed with a single, but Maton induced William Contreras to ground into a double play. It took some fine defensive work by SS Lindor and 2B Luisangel Acuña, who had just come in for defensive purposes, to do so, but it was typical of a game in which both sides flashed the leather (apart from Montas's egregious error in the 2nd). So Maton needed to get one more out to complete the inning, but couldn't do so: Willy Adames singled, and up next was Garrett Mitchell, who had come into the game as a pinch-runner for DH Gary Sanchez in the 6th. Who says pinch-runners can't hit? Mitchell drove a ball over the center field fence for a two-run homer, giving the Brewers their first lead of the game, 5-3. Murphy had resisted the temptation to bring in his closer early in the game just to keep the game close, so Devin Williams was available to pitch the 9th. He did what he had been doing since bursting onto the major league scene as a complete unknown back in 2020, which is to mystify opposing hitters with his outstanding change-up with a few blazing fastballs mixed in. That recipe resulted in the Mets going down in order, with Jesse Winker, pinch-hitting for Acuña, making the last out on a fly ball to - who else - Chourio. A third game would be required to determine who would move further.

Game 3 @ American Family Park[edit]

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Mets	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	4	4	5	0
Brewers	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	2	0	0
WP: Edwin Diaz (1-0); LP: Devin Williams (0-1); SV: David Peterson (1)
Home Runs: MIL - Jake Bauers (1), Sal Frelick (1); NY - Pete Alonso (1)

Attendance: 41,594

In a series that was full of thrilling games, Game 3 reached some sort of apex point, with a completely unexpected ending that left the Mets ecstatic and the Brewers devastated. The game started as a pitchers' duel between Tobias Myers for the Brewers, who until this season had been a journeyman minor league pitcher most famous for putting up an awful record of 1-15 in AAA in 2022, and José Quintana for the Mets, who had been toiling for years as an adequate but unspectacular back-the-rotation starter. Both hurlers were at their best today, and neither gave up a run. Interestingly, both teams led off the 1st inning with a hit: a double by Francisco Lindor when 2B Brice Turang bobbled a throw from CF Blake Perkins that had beaten the runner to the second base bag, and a single by Jackson Chourio, respectively. Lindor remained stuck there, while Chourio could not make it further than second base either. The Brewers did put a few more runners on second base in the early innings, thanks to a double by Gary Sanchez in the 2nd, and stolen bases by Willie Adames and Chourio in later frames, but Quintana closed the door each time.

Pat Murphy was the first manager to go to his bullpen, replacing Myers by Trevor Megill to start the 6th although Myers had given up just two hits through the first five, both by Lindor, and walked none while striking out five. Myers had needed just 66 pitches, so it was more a question of not asking the rookie to do too much then reacting to a pitcher who was tiring. In any case, Megill continued down the same path, getting the Mets out in order in the 6th, and Nick Mears did the same in the top of the 7th. With regards to Quintana, he completed six innings without allowing a run, and the fact he had now thrown 94 pitches made it clear that someone else would need to take the relay. That someone was José Butto, who had been excellent in Game 1. Murphy countered by having Jake Bauers pinch-hit for Rhys Hoskins, who had not done much of anything in the series, and the move proved to be brilliant as Bauers hit a long home run to right with a full count. The crowd was still celebrating when the next batter, RF Sal Frelick, homered as well on Butto's next pitch, an even longer shot to the same spot. The ballpark was now rocking, and Carlos Mendoza had to do something. As soon as Butto had faced the mandatory three batters, he brought in his closer, Edwin Diaz, to finish the inning. Diaz was not normally called upon to pitch in the 7th, but these were desperate times. He had trouble finding the plate, resulting in a walk to Turang, who immediately stole second base, then after a fly out by Chourio, another walk, this one to Perkins. Both runners then took off on a successful double steal, and a single could have ended any slim hopes the Mets still had. William Contreras popped up in foul territory near the screen next to first base, seemingly delivering Diaz from his self-created peril, but Pete Alonso let the ball drop to the ground. He was not charged with an error, but given how much Diaz was struggling to find the plate, the play looked very ominous. However, the embattled closer managed to get Contreras to swing and miss with a full count, ending the inning.

Trailing by two runs with two turns at bat left, the Mets were in serious trouble. Murphy made an unexpected move in the 8th, calling on Game 1 starter Freddy Peralta to come out of the bullpen. This was the sort of move which in past series had often blown up in a manager's face, given that Peralta was neither used to coming in in relief or to pitching on short rest, but it worked perfectly: Peralta retired the three men forming the bottom of the Mets' batting order and the New Yorkers were down to their final three outs. Diaz came back to pitch the bottom of the 8th and was the very embodiment of "effectively wild": neither the Brewers nor Diaz or his catcher had any idea where the next pitch would end up, but enough of these pitches were in the strike zone for the Brewers to go down in order, two of the outs coming via strikeout. Milwaukee was now exactly where it wanted to be: leading by two in the top of the 9th, with its closer ready to finish the game. Devin Williams had been excellent the night before, needing just 11 pitches to retire the Mets in order, but he looked to be a completely different pitcher today. Lindor - again - set the tone with a great at-bat to lead off the inning, fouling off a couple of tough pitches and not swinging at a couple that were just outside the strike zone to work an eight-pitch walk. Williams managed to strike out the next batter, Mark Vientos, but with a two-strike count, Brandon Nimmo singled to right and Lindor advanced to third. Williams was now in serious trouble, with Alonso due up. The slugger was possibly taking his last at-bat as a Met, given he was due to become a free agent after the season, but he made sure that wouldn't be the case by driving a pitch to right-center, above the fence just outside the reach of Perkins, for a three-run homer. Suddenly, the Mets were in the lead, and the crowd was completely deflated. Williams continued to struggle, hitting Jesse Winker with a pitch with two outs, after which Winker stole second base and scored on a single by Starling Marte. That is when Williams' nightmarish evening came to an end, with Joe Ross getting the final out of the inning with just one pitch.

Mendoza now had a decision to make: Diaz was gassed and could not come out to protect the lead. His other late-game reliever, Ryne Stanek, had been used in each of the first two games and was likely still tired as well. So he asked David Peterson, who had been held in reserve to start Game 1 of the Division Series if the Mets were to advance, to pitch the 9th. Like Peralta before him, Peterson was not in his usual role, but he handled it fine, even if Mendoza had Stanek warming up in the bullpen in case things went sour. Frelick led off with a single, but down two runs, the Brewers could not use any small ball tactics, and Joey Ortiz, hitless for the series, struck out meekly given neither the bunt nor the stolen base were in order. Up next was Turang, who had, in contrast to Ortiz, actually been productive in the three games, but this time he hit Peterson's first pitch directly to Lindor, who started a 6-4-3 double play that ended the series. The Brewers were completely stunned and the Mets were moving on.