Mets 4 Brewers 2 (American Family Field, Milwaukee, WI)
Series status: Mets win 2-1
WP - Edwin Diaz (1-0)
LP - Devin Williams (0-1)
SV - David Peterson (1)
Seat on the Korner:
We select the star of the game and virtually invite him to a Seat on the Korner, just as Ralph Kiner used to do for his studio postgame show on WOR-channel 9 broadcasts in the early decades of the Mets.
Pete Alonso gets every seat on every corner, every post game show, every late night talk show ... every blogger and podcaster that wants to interview him can interview him after his three run dinger off Brewers closer Devin Williams in the 9th inning led the Mets to an absolutely unreal 4-2 victory in a winner take all game in Milwaukee.
Need to Know
Pete Alonso's home run was the first home run of the series for the Mets.
Alonso became the first player in major league history to hit sa go-ahead HR while trailing in the 9th inning or later in a winner take all playoff game.
Francisco Lindor went 2-for-3 with a walk, and had the only two hits for the Mets until the 9th inning.
Quintana threw six shutout innings for the Mets, giving up four hits and one walk while striking out five.
Jake Bauers' home run in the 7th to give the Brewers the lead was the first by a pinch hitter in the 7th inning or later in a winner take all game in major league history.
David Peterson came in for the save after Edwin Diaz came in to pitch an inning and 2/3's in the 7th and 8th after Jose Butto gave up two home runs in the 7th. It was Peterson's first career save.
The Mets will now face the Phillies in the NLDS. This will be the first time the two teams have faced each other in the playoffs.
Turning Point
So ... yeah.
But let's not forget the at-bats that Francisco Lindor and Brandon Nimmo put together to set it up. Williams lost the plate against Lindor, but when Nimmo sat on Williams' excellent changeup and hit it hard through the hole, it was probably the moment that told everyone there was a serious chance that the Mets could come back and take this game.
Three Keys
Reports Of Pete's Last At-Bat as a Met Have Been Greatly Exaggerated
When will Pete Alonso's final at-bat as a Met be? Well after much speculation over the past week about "this could be ... this could be ... this could be ..." We now have no idea when Pete's final Mets at-bat will be. And that's okay.
Pete presses. He has pressed for three years, if we're being honest. But Pete's patience at the plate against Williams has taken an entire zoo off his back. Maybe, just maybe, the spigots will open for Alonso.
Q Stands For Clutch
Let's not forget Jose Quintana's six shutout innings.
The Mets now have gotten two clutch starting pitching performances down the stretch: Peterson on the last Sunday of the season against Milwaukee, and Quintana tonight. (Severino and Manaea weren't bad in Games 1 and 2 either.) But on the heels of 2022 where starting pitchers couldn't deliver, it's so good to see what Quintana and Peterson have done down the stretch.
Edwin Diaz's five outs for the win were also enormous.
If You Believe In This Sort Of Thing ...
What do the 2018 Dodgers, the 2019 Nationals, the 2020 Dodgers, the 2021 Braves, and the 2023 Diamondbacks all have in common?
If you said that they all reached the World Series as the National League representative, you'd be correct. But there's one more thing they all have in common ...
The Brewers lost to all of those teams in the playoffs. They also lost to the 2024 Mets. Take that information how you will.
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