Never-Say-Die Mets do it again, take 1-0 lead over Brewers in the Wild Card Series
The Mets showed a boatload of grit and resilience to beat the Brewers in Game 1 and move a step closer to advancing. Plus, why this team might just be the real deal...
What’s Up with the Mets? 🚩
The Mets are one win away from advancing to the NLDS after beating the Brewers 8-4 in Game 1 of the National League Wild Card Series in Milwaukee (box)
RHP Luis Severino gutted out six innings, allowing four runs - three earned - on eight hits with two walks and three strikeouts, before shutting down the Brewers in the fifth and sixth innings
DH Jesse Winker - back in the lineup after missing four straight games with back tightness - tied the game with a two-run triple, before scoring the go-ahead run on a Starling Marte sacrifice fly to wipe out an early 2-0 deficit
2B Jose Iglesias scored OF Tyrone Taylor on an RBI single with both players hustling on the basepaths to make the play possible, starting a huge and decisive five-run inning in the fifth
3B Mark Vientos took full advantage of two defensive misplays, hitting a two-run single to make it a 6-4 game
The Mets kept piling on in the fifth with DH J.D. Martinez - who entered the game as a pinch-hitter - adding to the lead with a two-run single
RHP José Buttó entered the game in relief and fired off two innings of scoreless and hitless ball, while not allowing a walk and striking out three
With a short bullpen, RHP Ryne Stanek was asked to close the game out, and he did just that by striking out one and not allowing a hit or a run in a perfect 1-2-3 ninth
Mets pitching combined to retire the last 17 batters they faced after taking the lead in Game 1
New York finished 5-for-7 with runners in scoring position and showed more aggression on the basepaths
The Mets’ five-run fifth was their most productive inning since scoring six runs in a single inning against the Cardinals in Game 4 of the 2006 NLCS, while all five runs in the fifth came with two outs
The club improved to 53-40 all-time in postseason play, are now 9-11 in the first game of a playoff series
Injury Updates 🏥
RHP Kodai Senga (triceps tightness) threw a 25-pitch live BP session on Monday. However, his availability for postseason remains uncertain
2B Jeff McNeil (wrist) will start ramping up baseball activities soon after positive X-Rays came back
OF Jesse Winker had been unavailable for the last four games with back tightness. He underwent an MRI on his back in Milwaukee last weekend, which came back negative
Roster Moves 📰
3B Brett Baty, OF / INF Pablo Reyes and C Hayden Senger are in Milwaukee as part of the Mets’ Taxi Squad - they are not currently active
GAME TWO
Match-up: Mets (1-0) vs. Brewers (0-1)
Where: American Family Field — Milwaukee, WI
Starters: LHP Sean Manaea vs. RHP Frankie Montas
When: 7:38 PM EDT
Where to Watch: ESPN
Moment of the Game ⭐
There is only one candidate for the Moment of the Game from Game 1 against the Brewers. This play was the runaway contender and completely changed the complexion and tenor of the entire contest.
With two runners on base and two outs in the fifth inning, Jose Iglesias hit a hard infield single the opposite way to Rhys Hoskins, who had some trouble handling the ball cleanly. That allowed Iglesias the extra time needed to hustle down the line and dive into first, beating out the throw to the pitcher.
Not only did Iglesias’ gutsy, head-first dive into first keep the inning alive, but the heart and hustle play scored a run and paved the way for what was to follow in the fifth. Without that clutch effort from Iglesias, the inning would have been over and the Mets’ rally would never have happened, perhaps leading to an entirely different outcome in Game 1.
Iglesias has been Mr. Clutch for the Mets all year, but his at-bat in the fifth inning on Monday may well go down as his biggest moment of the season.
Who’s Hot 🔥
Jesse Winker, who entered Monday in a 0-for-15 slump, is now a career 7-for-20 against Brewers RHP Freddy Peralta after his two-run triple in Game 1
Mark Vientos became just the fourth player in Mets history to record at least two hits and two RBIs in their postseason debut. Carlos Delgado, David Wright and Edgardo Alfonzo were the others
Pete Alonso became just the sixth player in franchise history to record three walks in a single postseason game. Carlos Delgado and Carlos Beltrán were the last players to accomplish that feat (2006)
After his fifth-inning clutch heroics in Game 1, Jose Iglesias is now hitting .462 (12-for-26) in two-out situations
These gutsy, resilient Mets may well just be the real deal… ✍️
There is something very special about the 2024 vintage of the New York Mets.
As the kids these days would say, the vibes are immaculate.
After a Game 1 full of gutsy pitching, clutch hitting and a total team buy-in, the Mets are just one win away from advancing to the NLDS for the first time since they made the World Series in 2015.
More importantly, the Mets increasingly look like a team who could go on and achieve something really special this October.
I mean, at this point, who would even be stupid enough to bet against them?
Because, without a doubt, the most impressive attribute this team currently possesses is its resiliency. That has been on full display since those dark days of May, and it is an admirable quality that has really led the charge over the last few weeks.
Despite their shortstop being banged up, despite dropping three back-breaking clunkers in a row, the Mets found a way to claw out a must-have win in the series finale against the Brewers last weekend. That kept them alive heading into a do-or-die doubleheader against Atlanta.
Then, and without diving into all the drama, this team survived the lowest of lows and a boatload of crushing setbacks to scale the highest of highs and pull out one of the greatest regular season wins in franchise history. Period.
But, wait, there’s more…
Less than 24 hours after that improbable, implausible, miracle-like victory in Atlanta, the Mets needed to towel off and shed all the emotion from a game that will live on in baseball lore forever, and instead focus on the task at hand: taking on a very good Brewers team in a best-of-three Wild Card series.
Given these players are just mere mortals like the rest of us, flipping the script and switching off a slew of wild emotions just like that is no easy task. It is even harder when you are running on fumes too.
And, when Luis Severino ran into trouble early and gifted the Brewers a 2-0 lead in the first inning, you couldn’t help but fear the worst. After all, mental mistakes in the field led to that deficit, while Milwaukee continued to be uber-aggressive on the basepaths.
Yet, just as they have done all year, the Mets embraced the incoming storm and remained calm even with the pressure building. They rose to the challenge and players who were nowhere near Queens on Opening Day continued to step up and become heroes. Jesse Winker started the comeback with a two-run triple. Jose Iglesias’ all-time hustle play, coupled with some aggressive baserunning from Tyrone Taylor, began a fifth-inning rally that changed the entire complexion of the game. Mark Vientos continued his fairytale year with a clutch two-run single, before J.D. Martinez, who has been a non-factor as of late, added on some insurance runs with a two-run single of his own.
The Mets triumphed in Milwaukee on Monday thanks to gritty performances from every member of the team, not to mention a lights out outing from the bullpen and yet more right button-pushing from manager Carlos Mendoza, who managed his first postseason game as the main man like a seasoned vet.
But, more importantly, it was the gutsy never-say-die attitude that carried them through and put them one win away from advancing.
These resilient Mets are a special bunch and, while the job isn’t done yet in Milwaukee, they appear to be on a collision course with doing something incredibly remarkable this postseason.
The Championship Chase 🏆
Tigers LHP Tarik Skubal tossed six innings of scoreless ball and struckout six to help Detroit beat the Astros 3-1 in Game 1 of their AL Wild Card Series
The Royals recorded their first postseason shutout in franchise history thanks to Cole Ragans’ six scoreless innings and Bobby Witt Jr.’s clutch RBI single against Baltimore in a 1-0 win
Michael King became the first pitcher in MLB history to record 12 strikeouts, 0 runs and 0 walks in his first postseason start, while Fernando Tatis Jr. hit a monster 415 feet homer to help the Padres shutout the Braves, 4-0
Grit and resilience...nailed it.