Backs Against The Wall, Mets Do The Impossible AGAIN 

It was an all-too-familiar feeling. The dry mouth, the slightly elevated heart rate, the stomach ache, the anxiety, the notion that everything could go away at the crack of a bat. After performing impossible heroics on Monday and all season long, the Mets found themselves facing elimination again. Game 1 of the Wild Card series against the Brewers went without a hitch: a back and forth offensive battle that the Mets blew wide open in the 5th inning, solidifying an 8-4 win. Game 2 didn’t go as planned. Following some production in the first two innings, the bats went completely cold, only garnering 3 hits from the third inning on. The Brewers, on the other hand, ran wild on Phil Maton and tied up the series in a 5-3 game. After being on top of the world, the Mets were one game away from being written off completely…again.

 

Going into Thursday night, the Brewers had momentum in their favor. They were clearly in control the night before, a sold out crowd of 41,594 filled the stands to cheer them on and they had a guy named Tobias Myers on the bump. Just who is Tobias Myers? Well, he’s a rookie and his stuff is sneakily disgusting. He spent his 5 innings of work throwing balls straight into the zone, but missing every bat that went towards it. The movement at the end of every pitch confounded the Mets hitters up and down the lineup. The only one that wasn’t fooled was Francisco Lindor, who got two hits off of him. Those two hits were the sum of the Mets offense through the first 7 innings. Trevor Megill, Nick Mears and Freddy Peralta held down the fort in the Brewers bullpen, allowing zero baserunners through 3 cumulative innings of work. The Mets seemed to be completely and hopelessly lost.

 

As things seemed more and more improbable, the most optimistic of Mets fans realized that the Brewers were dealing with the same problems. Jose Quintana started for the Mets and he gave a career performance. While allowing 4 hits and a walk, he never once ran into any tangible trouble. He tossed 6 shutout innings and did everything in his power to keep the team alive. But as soon as he was replaced by Jose Butto, all the effort was ruined. The first batter he faced was everyman, Jake Bauers, who hit a 3-2 pitch into the right field stands. On the next pitch, everyman Sal Frelick hit a fastball to the same exact spot. It was, for all intents and purposes, over. American Family Field went into a feverish rave, while manager Carlos Mendoza did the only thing he could do to stop the bleeding: he called for his closer. 

 

In a rare seventh inning appearance, Edwin Díaz did what he could to keep it a 2-0 game. But closers are special creatures that thrive on habit and this took Edwin out of his comfort zone. He walked two batters, who stole second and third respectively. Then, with two outs, William Contreras made what would have been an inning-ending popup. Pete Alonso stood under it and watched it miss his glove completely. 

 

It was a sight to be seen that felt definitively appropriate for Pete Alonso. The days of him being a rookie record-breaking phenom were long gone. Facing free agency this offseason, he wasn’t able to make a good case for himself. Despite making an admirable 34 home runs, his .240/.329/.459 slash line wasn’t going to send beefy offers to his door. It appeared as though this would be the last time we see Pete in a Mets uniform and after dropping the ball, a large chunk of the fanbase said “good riddance”. ESPN decided to show a slow motion replay of the dropped ball and the images spoke a thousand words. You could see the crowd behind him, making faces in mockery. One kid even busted his face in the netting because he was laughing so hard. And the look on Pete’s face was one of a broken man, one that fell victim to his own hype. With only 6 outs left before elimination, he may not even have a chance to go up to bat again. This was how fans would remember him.

 

By the grace of the baseball Gods, Edwin Díaz got out of the mess and then also pitched a clean 8th inning. For the top of the 9th, the Brewers sent out their closer, Devin Williams, to face the top of the Mets order. Leading off, Francisco Lindor understood the assignment. Being down 2-0 with no tomorrow, he knew that he couldn’t swing for the fences. Instead, he showed restraint and patience, allowing himself to see and show his teammates what Devin’s arsenal looked like. He drew a 7 pitch walk and Brandon Nimmo used the intel to poke a changeup into left field. Which brought up the Polar Bear himself, Pete Alonso.

 

Across the nation, Mets fans were visualizing how this would turn out. Surely, the ground ball specialist was going to make the dejected free agent ground into a double play to win the game. We could all see it in our heads. In fact, there’s multiple variants of this universe in which this exact outcome happened. This year has been nothing but magical for the Mets, but that magic can only last for so long. They already had their Hollywood Ending on Monday, that was where the movie ends. And for what it was worth, it was a good movie. 

 

Nobody anticipated a sequel.

 

The first pitch to Pete was a juicy changeup right down the middle that he just…looked at. That was his home run ball and he watched it go by. The next three pitches were nowhere near the strike zone, but Pete wasn’t fooled. He remained steady and studious, waiting for the right moment to swing his bat. The 5th pitch was the same as the 1st and he let it rip. The right fielder chased it down until his back hit the wall and the ball bounced off the top. For the first time in postseason history, a home run was hit in the 9th inning to take the lead in a winner-takes-all game. The first time in the storied history of baseball. Pete Alonso had the biggest home run of his life, he saved the season and seemingly saved his career. Souls left the bodies of fans everywhere, angry tweets were deleted and the lower section of Citi Field rumbled, as a raucous crowd watched on the big screen. In the most improbable year, this team keeps doing the impossible.

 

After a 4-2 win and a frenzied champagne celebration, the Mets are traveling to Philadelphia for a best of 5 series against the Phillies. While clearly the underdogs, the Mets have a lot going in their favor. For starters, there’s recent history to take into account. They won 3 out of 4 games in their last series against them. You also have to factor in that the Phillies no longer have a competitive bite. It’s been weeks since they clinched the division and they’ll be playing on 6 days rest. That seems normal in other sports, but in baseball, it could be a death warrant for the Phillies. After that, if they advance, they’ll face either the Padres or Dodgers. The Padres would be a worthy opponent to get revenge on and its one that the Mets know well. The Dodgers may appear scary on paper, but this is a top-heavy team that is the weakest they’ve looked in a decade. Why am I thinking this far ahead? Because in the history of the Milwaukee Brewers, every team to beat them in the postseason has gone on the win the pennant. They are the ultimate stepping stone in baseball lore and there’s no reason to believe that the streak will continue. 

 

Because after last night, we know that we should always believe.