Brewers and Mets both proved skeptics wrong to set up unlikely NL Wild Card Series matchup

MILWAUKEE (AP) — The New York Mets weren’t supposed to get this far. Neither were the Milwaukee Brewers.

Yet here they are squaring off in a best-of-three NL Wild Card Series beginning Tuesday in Milwaukee.

These two teams should know each other well. The Mets finished playing a series in Milwaukee on Sunday before heading to Atlanta to play a makeup doubleheader Monday that determined the NL's final two playoff participants. A doubleheader split put the Braves and Mets in the playoffs while eliminating the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Now the Mets head back to Milwaukee for an unlikely postseason matchup.

“We’ve answered the bell," New York first baseman Pete Alonso said during the team's playoff-clinching celebration Monday. “We’ve earned the right to play in the postseason. Now this is when we have a great opportunity in front of us.”

The Mets went 75-87 in 2023 and were 22-33 near the end of May, but they came on strong the rest of the way under new manager Carlos Mendoza to earn the NL's final wild-card spot.

“There were a lot of times this year when it would have been easy for these guys to start pointing fingers, and that never happened,” Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns said. “They hung together, believed in each other, and it allows us to get to a moment like this, which is pretty cool.”

Milwaukee was an even bigger surprise in winning its second straight NL Central title.

The Brewers lost manager Craig Counsell to the rival Chicago Cubs in the offseason. Two-time All-Star pitcher Brandon Woodruff missed the season following shoulder surgery and 2021 Cy Young Award winner Corbin Burnes was traded in January to Baltimore. Milwaukee lost pitchers Wade Miley and Robert Gasser to Tommy John surgeries. And then Christian Yelich hurt his back and didn’t play after July 23.

The Brewers never flinched. They took over the NL Central lead near the end of April and stayed there the rest of the way.

“They did it by pulling together and playing a certain way, and they know that’s the secret,” said Brewers manager Pat Murphy, a former bench coach on Counsell's staff. “I don’t think they wipe the slate clean in that, ‘This is how I play.’ The numbers are out the window. It doesn’t matter. Now it’s about win today, and they’ve kind of been doing that all year.”

The small-market Brewers are making their sixth postseason appearance in seven years, but they haven't won a playoff series since reaching Game 7 of the 2018 NL Championship Series. Milwaukee has lost nine of its last 10 playoff games.

While previous Brewers teams were anchored by a dominant rotation featuring Burnes, Woodruff and Freddy Peralta, this year’s squad went 93-69 behind Gold Glove-caliber defense, chaos-inducing speed on the bases and steady and effective pitching.

“We feel different,” Peralta said. “I can tell. Even today, the vibes that we have right now, you can see on everybody’s face that we are all knowing where we are, knowing where we’re going, and where we want to be.”

Stearns joined the Brewers as general manager in October 2015 and was promoted to president of baseball operations before the 2019 season. He stepped down after the 2022 season and took the same position with the Mets a year later.

Now his new team faces his former one with high stakes.

Peralta (11-9, 3.68 ERA) will start Game 1, but Murphy isn't saying how the Brewers will set up their pitching beyond that. Peralta is 0-1 with a 3.46 ERA in four postseason appearances.

The Mets figure to start Luis Severino (11-7, 3.91) and Sean Manaea (12-6, 3.47) in the first two games, and then Jose Quintana (10-10, 3.75) would be on full rest for a potential Game 3.

While the Mets were able to save Severino for the playoff opener by winning Game 1 of the doubleheader in Atlanta, it’s uncertain what closer Edwin Díaz might have left in the tank Tuesday after throwing 66 pitches over the past two days.

Milwaukee outfielder Sal Frelick bruised his left hip while chasing a foul ball Friday, creating doubt for his availability this week.

“He’s still limping, so I’m not as optimistic as I was hoping to be,” Murphy said.

Frelick told reporters that he will be ”ready to go.”

“I don’t think I’d put myself out there if I thought that it was going to hurt the team, if I thought I couldn’t make a play, couldn’t steal a base, stuff like that,” Frelick said. “I’m comfortable saying that I can, I can go out and play like I have the whole year.”

Frelick crashed into the right-field sidewall, and his left side made contact with the metal chain link inside a window in that wall with no protective padding. Along with the traditional bunting adorning the concourses and logos painted onto American Family Field for the postseason, the Brewers installed new padding to the section of wall that Frelick hit.

The Brewers have won 12 of their last 14 meetings with the Mets. They were 5-0 against the Mets this year before losing 5-0 on Sunday.

Much of Milwaukee's success against the Mets has come from its running game. The Brewers stole 17 bases in six games against New York without getting caught a single time, though they did have a runner picked off once.

Milwaukee’s Brice Turang went 9 of 19 and stole seven bases without getting caught in the Brewers’ six regular-season games with the Mets. Jackson Chourio was 9 for 25 at the plate against the Mets. Longtime Mets nemesis Rhys Hoskins batted just .222 but had two homers and eight RBIs in 18 at-bats.

New York’s Francisco Alvarez went 7 for 15 with a homer, four RBIs and a 1.260 OPS against the Brewers this season. Starling Marte had a .389 on-base percentage and .600 slugging percentage. Jose Iglesias was 5 for 11.

AP Sports Writer Steve Megargee contributed to this report.

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB

The New York Mets celebrate in the locker room after clinching a playoff berth with a victory in the first game of a doubleheader against the Atlanta Braves, Monday, Sept. 30, 2024, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Jason Allen)

New York Mets shortstop Francisco Lindor celebrates in the locker room after clinching a playoff berth with a victory in the first game of a doubleheader against the Atlanta Braves, Monday, Sept. 30, 2024, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Jason Allen)

Milwaukee Brewers manager Pat Murphy looks on from the dugout before a baseball game against the Arizona Diamondbacks Friday, Sept. 20, 2024, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Jeffrey Phelps)

Milwaukee Brewers manager Pat Murphy looks from the dugout during the third inning of a baseball game against the New York Mets, Friday, Sept. 27, 2024, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Aaron Gash)

Milwaukee Brewers starting pitcher Freddy Peralta delivers during the first inning of a baseball game against the Pittsburgh Pirates, Wednesday, Sept. 25, 2024, in Pittsburgh. (AP Photo/Matt Freed)

Milwaukee Brewers starter Freddy Peralta celebrates in the dugout after getting his 200th strikeout of the season during the sixth inning of a baseball game against the Pittsburgh Pirates, Wednesday, Sept. 25, 2024, in Pittsburgh. (AP Photo/Matt Freed)

Milwaukee Brewers' Willy Adames gestures as he jogs to the dugout after being taken out of the game during the seventh inning of a baseball game against the New York Mets, Sunday, Sept. 29, 2024, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Aaron Gash)

Milwaukee Brewers' Willy Adames, left, laughs from the dugout during the eighth inning of a baseball game against the New York Mets, Sunday, Sept. 29, 2024, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Aaron Gash)

ATLANTA (AP) — Four months after falling 11 games under .500, the New York Mets earned a playoff spot a day after the regular season was supposed to end.

With a thrilling 8-7 win at Atlanta in the opener of a makeup doubleheader on Monday behind Francisco Lindor's ninth-inning homer, the Mets advanced to a best-of-three NL Wild Card Series starting Tuesday at Milwaukee.

New York lost the nightcap 3-0, but it didn't matter. Pete Alonso and the Mets had already locked up the 11th postseason berth in team history.

“We’re a franchise that hasn’t had enough of these moments,” first-year president of baseball operations David Stearns, who grew up a Mets fan in New York City, said during the champagne party in the clubhouse following the second game.

“We’ve got more work to do. I don’t think anyone in here is satisfied with just one celebration.”

New York overcame an 0-5 start to earn an unexpected trip to the postseason. To punch their ticket, the Mets rebounded from deficits of 3-0 in the eighth inning and 7-6 in the ninth to beat the Braves in Monday's opener. And the big hit was by Lindor, who returned Friday from a back injury that had sidelined him since Sept. 15.

“In slow motion it felt like,” Lindor said when asked about the homer. “Emotion. Emotion. It felt like I got the pitch that I wanted. And you never know if the ball is going to go out or not but I feel like I got it 100%. We’re one step closer. Now we’ve got to finish it. Finish, finish, finish.”

Asked what he was thinking when he rounded the bases, Lindor said: “My back hurts. I’m tired. I know how good Atlanta is. But the one thing that I had in my mind was just thank you, Jesus and God.”

New York had lost 77 straight games when trailing by three runs in eighth inning or later since May 17, 2023.

It was a throwback to 1973, when the Mets also clinched a playoff spot on the day after the season was supposed to finish. Back then, they beat the Chicago Cubs 6-4 to secure the NL East title.

This year, a 10-3 loss to the Dodgers on May 29 completed a three-game Los Angeles sweep at Citi Field by a combined 18-5. New York dropped to 22-33 in its first season under manager Carlos Mendoza and was six games out of the last wild-card berth and needing to overcome seven teams.

Lindor called a players' only meeting. As players explained it, the Mets aired some issues in the clubhouse that day and committed themselves to positivity, effective preparation and a team-first approach dedicated to helping each other and winning games.

"We just opened the floor and talked about ways we can turn it around,” outfielder Brandon Nimmo said then. “Just felt like a boiling-over point.”

Since then, with Lindor leading the charge, they have the best record in the majors at 67-39. They have outscored opponents 541-430.

“It’s been an uphill fight,” Lindor said. “We put ourselves in a big hole and we kept climbing and kept climbing. We kept our shoulders above water. After the All-Star break, you know, we never believed that we were drowning.”

One of New York's biggest concerns going into the Wild Card Series is the availability of closer Edwin Díaz, who got the win in the doubleheader opener. The right-hander has thrown 66 pitches over the past two days.

Baseball's biggest spenders since Steve Cohen bought the team ahead of the 2021 season, the Mets reached the playoffs in 2022 only to lose a three-game Wild Card Series to San Diego. The Mets sank to 75-87 last year, when they had a record $319.5 million payroll and were assessed a record $100.8 million luxury tax.

They began this year as the top spender again at a projected $321 million, including $70 million in payments to teams covering salaries of traded players Max Scherzer, Justin Verlander and James McCann. Their projected luxury tax was $83 million.

After the win in the doubleheader opener, Cohen posted on X: “Have you ever seen a game like that? I am so proud of this team. Met fans, go out and celebrate.”

“This was such a massive group effort,” Alonso said. “We earned it.”

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB

CORRECTS BY REMOVING WILD CARD REFERENCE - The New York Mets celebrate in the locker room after clinching a playoff berth with a victory in the first game of a doubleheader against the Atlanta Braves, Monday, Sept. 30, 2024, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Jason Allen)

CORRECTS BY REMOVING WILD CARD REFERENCE - The New York Mets celebrate in the locker room after clinching a playoff berth with a victory in the first game of a doubleheader against the Atlanta Braves, Monday, Sept. 30, 2024, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Jason Allen)

New York Mets' Francisco Lindor celebrates in the dugout after scoring in the eighth inning of a baseball game against the Atlanta Braves, Monday, Sept. 30, 2024, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Jason Allen)

A fan dances in the stands during a rally in the eighth inning of a baseball game between the New York Mets and the Atlanta Braves, Monday, Sept. 30, 2024, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Jason Allen)

New York Mets' Mark Vientos celebrates in the dugout after scoring in the eighth inning of a baseball game against the Atlanta Braves, Monday, Sept. 30, 2024, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Jason Allen)

New York Mets pitcher Edwin Díaz, center, celebrates with teammates after winning the game in the ninth inning of a baseball game against the Atlanta Braves, Monday, Sept. 30, 2024, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Jason Allen)

New York Mets owner, Steve Cohen, right, high fives Luisangel Acuña in the dugout after winning the game in the ninth inning of a baseball game against the Atlanta Braves, Monday, Sept. 30, 2024, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Jason Allen)

New York Mets' Francisco Lindor, left, Jose Iglesias, left center, David Peterson, right center, and Brandon Nimmo, right, celebrate in the dugout after taking the lead in the eighth inning of a baseball game against the Atlanta Braves, Monday, Sept. 30, 2024, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Jason Allen)

New York Mets' Francisco Lindor prepares to swing in the third inning of a baseball game against the Atlanta Braves, Monday, Sept. 30, 2024, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Jason Allen)

New York Mets' Francisco Lindor checks his swing in the third inning of a baseball game against the Atlanta Braves, Monday, Sept. 30, 2024, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Jason Allen)

New York Mets shortstop Francisco Lindor throws to first base in the third inning of a baseball game against the New York Mets, Monday, Sept. 30, 2024, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Jason Allen)