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.”

The Stearns series

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.

Who’s on the mound?

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.

Frelick’s status

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.

Brewers on the basepaths

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.

Matchup problems

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.