MILWAUKEE — Throughout the past few months, as the schedule and the standings challenged the New York Mets, manager Carlos Mendoza developed a simple mantra.
“We’ll be ready.”
Play in seven road cities in one month? We’ll be ready. Have a pair of last-week rainouts and a season-ending doubleheader to qualify for the postseason? We’ll be ready. Have an unprecedented turnaround from that doubleheader into an actual playoff series?
Mendoza could smile after an 8-4 win over the Brewers in Game 1 Tuesday.
“We were ready to go,” he said. “It showed.”
The Mets were ready for a first pitch that came 22 1/2 hours after they uncorked prosecco and doused each other in Coors Light in a city one time zone and 800 miles away. They were ready despite another early deficit, Mendoza not panicking when Luis Severino spent the first four innings walking a tightrope through Milwaukee traffic on the bases. And they were ready to pounce when a quick managerial hook and some sloppy Brewers defense opened the door in the fifth inning.
NYM 8
MIL 4
FinalThe Mets put together another big inning, and it was their staff that silenced bats in the second half of the game.
The Mets lead this best-of-three, 1-0.
— Tim Britton (@TimBritton) October 2, 2024
As a result, they’re one win away from a Division Series date with the Phillies.
“Imma be honest with you,” Mark Vientos said after a two-hit, two-RBI postseason debut. “It’s hard to be tired when you’re playing playoff baseball.”
New York’s first road playoff win since it celebrated a pennant 90 minutes south of here nine years ago was propelled by a five-run fifth inning. With a 4-3 lead, Milwaukee manager Pat Murphy aggressively and unexpectedly pulled starter Freddy Peralta after four innings and 68 pitches.
Just as in Monday’s clincher over Atlanta, a big rally started with a Tyrone Taylor double — even if this one should have been caught by Milwaukee wunderkind Jackson Chourio in left field. With two on and two out, José Iglesias’s hard grounder to first was snagged by Rhys Hoskins. But Iglesias, who smells base hits like a shark smells blood, beat pitcher Joel Payamps to the bag with a headfirst slide. Taylor never hesitated around third and scored the tying run.
“He’s such a gamer,” Brandon Nimmo marveled about Iglesias. “He plays with such heart and hustle.”
Nimmo followed with an infield single off lefty Aaron Ashby to load the bases before Vientos and J.D. Martinez came through with a pair of two-run singles the other way. Thanks to Iglesias’ hustle, a zero became a five-spot, a deficit a lead, and the game a breeze for New York’s pitching staff.
“You never know which at-bat, which play is going to be the one,” Nimmo said. “That’s why you’ve got to send it every single time. Your opportunity might be the one.”
The Mets have made a habit of snowballing innings on opponents of late. That was not something the offense did early in the season. New York didn’t score five or more runs in an inning until June 5 — it’s 561st offensive inning of the season — and it did it only six times in the first half of the season.
The Mets have done it six times in the last 19 games — and twice in the past two days.
“It’s passing the baton,” said Jesse Winker, whose two-run triple in the second rebutted the Brewers’ two runs in the first inning. “No one is trying to be the hero. We’re trying to put together quality at-bats and grind it out.”
“I’m really proud of our ability to take these games and take these at-bats one pitch at a time,” Nimmo said. “Just keep doing what we’ve been doing all year: Make a plan, trust your preparation, and you go give it your best effort.”
The Mets can ponder whether this offense, because of its diversity, because of its ability to put the ball over the fence, might be better equipped to do damage in October than the one that actually scored more runs back in 2022.
“We can beat you in a lot of different ways,” Mendoza said. “We have guys that can get on base, we have guys that can gut the ball out of the ballpark, but we also have the ability to put the ball in play when we need to, to use the whole field if we need to. That’s what happened today.”
“We knew if we made it to the postseason, we had to do the little things right for us to win games,” Francisco Lindor said.
In eight previous Wild Card Series, the winner of Game 1 has always advanced to the next round. Only the 2022 Mets forced even a Game 3 after losing the opener. Sean Manaea will face Frankie Montas in Game 2.
There’s one thing you can count on.
“We’ve got to be ready,” Mendoza said after this win, “to do it again.”
(Photo of Ryne Stanek: John Fisher / Getty Images)
