MILWAUKEE — The Milwaukee Brewers defied the odds all year long to repeat as National League Central Division champions, overcoming roster upheaval before the season began and injuries during it to secure their sixth playoff berth in a seven-year stretch.
Now they’ll try to do something unprecedented in Major League Baseball postseason history.
Jackson Chourio tied the game in the bottom of the eighth with his second homer of the night, and Garrett Mitchell delivered a two-run shot later in the inning to give the third-seeded Brewers a 5-3 victory over the sixth-seeded New York Mets on Wednesday, evening up their best-of-three series in the wild-card round at a game apiece.
The teams will meet again Thursday night in a rubber match for a spot in the best-of-five NL Division Series that starts Saturday against the second-seeded Philadelphia Phillies, who won the East and had a bye through this round. The Brewers will attempt to become the first team to win a best-of-three series after losing the opener since MLB went to this expanded playoff format in 2022.
“We talk about it every night: ‘Win tonight. Do whatever it takes,'” Mitchell said. “And that’s what we did.”
Milwaukee trailed 3-2 when Chourio led off the home half of the eighth by homering to right-center off losing pitcher Phil Maton, who was making his fourth appearance on the mound in five days. The 20-year-old rookie also opened the bottom of the first with a drive to right against Sean Manaea, becoming the youngest player to hit a leadoff homer in the postseason.
After Blake Perkins singled and William Contreras grounded into a double play, Willy Adames kept the eighth inning going with a single. Mitchell then hit a drive just over the wall in right-center, a 390-foot shot that sent the American Family Field crowd into a frenzy.
“In that situation, it’s like the moment is telling you to speed up, try to do more, swing for the fences, whatever you’re thinking,” Mitchell said. “For me, it was just like, just attack in the zone. … Be yourself, be relaxed, pass it to the next guy. That was my mentality. I’m not trying to hit a homer there.”
He did it anyway by connecting on a first-pitch curveball.
“Too much plate,” Maton said. “Happy with going first-pitch curveball to get ahead. It was just one of those things where he put a good swing on it. Nine times out of 10, I feel like I get a get a fly ball to center field for an out. He put a good swing on it.”
New York manager Carlos Mendoza said after the game that closer Edwin Díaz was available, but the Mets didn’t want to use him for more than an inning.
Milwaukee’s Devin Williams retired the side in order in the ninth to earn the save. Joe Ross picked up the win after pitching 1 1/3 innings of scoreless relief.
Milwaukee had been 0-26 in the postseason when trailing going into the eighth inning, according to MLB.com.
Chourio is the second-youngest player to homer twice in a postseason game, behind 19-year-old Andruw Jones for the Atlanta Braves in the 1996 World Series opener at Yankee Stadium. The rookie from Venezuela has shown no signs of postseason pressure while going 4-for-8 in two games, and now he has the Brewers one win from their first postseason series victory since 2018.
“It’s just been an incredible year,” Chourio said through a translator. “There’s not much more to say than that. It’s been an incredible year for everyone, for all the guys in that clubhouse. I think we saw the fruits that were beared from that.”
The Mets took the lead in the second inning after a Brewers pitcher again made a critical mistake around first base.
With the score 1-1, the Mets had one out and nobody on in the second when Starling Marte hit a routine grounder to first baseman Rhys Hoskins, whose throw bounced off Frankie Montas’ glove as the right-hander went to cover the bag.
After Montas failed to catch Hoskins’ throw, he failed to get the next two Mets hitters out. Tyrone Taylor and Francisco Alvarez hit consecutive singles, with the latter hit bringing home Marte. Francisco Lindor followed with a sacrifice fly that scored Taylor.
“I feel like that’s what started everything,” Montas said of his error. “If I would have made that out, there’s nobody on base. That’s something that definitely cannot happen. In the postseason, you have to get your outs however you can.”
It marked the second straight night the Mets rallied after a Brewers pitcher botched a play at first base. New York trailed 4-3 with two outs in the fifth inning of their 8-4 victory Tuesday when Joel Payamps was late getting to first base on a grounder to Hoskins, enabling Jose Iglesias to slide headfirst safely to spark a five-run outburst.
Milwaukee got one run back in the fifth when Brice Turang hit a leadoff double and scored on Perkins’ sacrifice fly. Then the Brewers delivered the dramatic eighth-inning rally that evened the series.
Now both teams will have their seasons on the line Thursday.
“Obviously, losing’s not fun, but we’ve been responding to adversity all year,” Mets first baseman Pete Alonso said. “I’m really excited for this challenge tomorrow. I know they’re equally as excited. This is what the playoffs are all about.”
Rookie right-hander Tobias Myers (9-6, 3.00 ERA) will start for Milwaukee, while the Mets will counter with left-hander Jose Quintana (10-10, 3.75).