Pete Alonso hit a dramatic three-run homer in the ninth inning Thursday night and the New York Mets beat the Milwaukee Brewers 4-2 in the deciding game of their first-round series.
With the Brewers up 2-0, one out and runners on in the top of the ninth, Alonso hit an opposite-field homer against ace reliever Devin Williams to swing the game.
He is the first player in Mets history to give the team a lead in a decisive playoff game.
“It’s been unreal. What an adventure! Alonso said. I’m just excited to help keep this team alive. »
It allows the Mets to join the Philadelphia Phillies in the Division Series. The New Yorkers won their first series since 2015, the year of their World Series defeat at the hands of the Kansas City Royals.
“It’s something you do in the backyard as a kid,” Alonso said.
Starling Marte added an insurance run by driving Jesse Winker to the plate with a single.
Before the ninth, the Mets had been held to just two hits, both the work of Francisco Lindor.
Jake Bauers and Sal Frelick put the Brewers up 2-0 with home runs on back-to-back pitches from Mets reliever Jose Butto in the seventh.
The starter for Game 1, Brewers ace pitcher Freddy Peralta, pitched one inning in relief on just one day of rest after working four innings Tuesday. He retired the three batters facing him in order in the eighth.
Brewers rookie Tobias Myers held the Mets to two hits in five innings with five strikeouts.
His opposite number, veteran left-hander Jose Quintana, was just as effective with four hits allowed and five strikeouts in six innings.
Edwin Diaz pitched for one and two-thirds innings to earn the win. David Peterson, who made his first relief appearance this season, signed his first career save.
Each of the three games in the series were won by a trailing team. In Game 1, the Mets won after seeing the Brewers score twice in the first inning. The Brewers, for their part, avoided elimination with a three-run surge in the eighth inning in Game 2.
The Mets meet the Phillies in Philadelphia on Saturday for the start of their Division Series.
The Mets were 6-7 against the Phillies this season and finished six games behind their rivals from Pennsylvania in the AFC East.
The Brewers, making the playoffs for the sixth time in seven years, have not won a series since reaching the championship series in 2018.
This ninth-inning comeback is just the latest chapter in the Mets’ story this season. They were 22-33 at the end of May, and secured their playoff presence by scoring eight runs in the final two innings in an 8-7 win over the Atlanta Braves on the final day. of the season.
“It’s the nature of this team to never give up, to never listen to the echoes from the outside that say you should give up, that you shouldn’t even try. It’s over, Nimmo said. We continue, we continue. And these guys embody that. »
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