MILWAUKEE — Mark Vientos and J.D. Martinez each had a two-run single to fuel a five-run fifth inning and pace the New York Mets to an 8-4 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers on Tuesday in Game 1 of a National League wild-card series.
The Mets, who did not secure a postseason berth until winning the first game of a makeup doubleheader at Atlanta on Monday, twice came from behind against the NL Central champion Brewers. New York, the No. 6 seed, can clinch the series Wednesday night.
“Everybody’s tired, but once you play ball, you’ve got to go,” Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said. “It’s going to be electric, it’s going to be loud. That was the case today. And you’ve just got to feed off that. So, there’s no excuses.
“I think everybody’s been through it. We’re not the only one. Yeah, we went back to Atlanta, played a doubleheader, came back here, but nobody cares.”
The third-seeded Brewers, who took two of three from the Mets in their final regular-season series, are 1-10 in playoff games since losing Game 7 of the 2018 National League Championship Series to the visiting Los Angeles Dodgers. Last season, Milwaukee was swept at home last season by the Arizona Diamondbacks in the wild-card series after winning the division.
The Mets erupted for five runs in the fifth off the Brewers bullpen to go in front 8-4. Tyrone Taylor doubled with one out off Joel Payamps (0-1), who relieved Freddy Peralta to start the inning. Francisco Lindor walked with two outs and Jose Iglesias beat out a dribbler to the right side for an RBI single to tie it 4-all.
Aaron Ashby entered for Milwaukee and Brandon Nimmo singled to load the bases. Vientos followed with a two-run single to make it 6-4. Pete Alonso was walked intentionally and Martinez delivered a two-run pinch-hit single.
“We have a deep lineup,” Mendoza said. “We can beat you in a lot of different ways. When we have guys rolling, we not only control the strikeout, we have guys that can get on base, we have guys that can hit the ball out of the ballpark, but we also have the ability to put the ball in play when we need to, use the whole field if we need to. That’s what happened today.”
It marked the most runs in a playoff inning for the Mets since a six-run outburst in the 2006 NLCS against the St. Louis Cardinals.
New York starter Luis Severino (1-0) battled through six innings, giving up four runs, three earned, on eight hits. He struck out three, walked two and hit a batter in a 105-pitch outing. Jose Butto followed with two spotless innings, and Ryne Stanek pitched a perfect ninth.
The Brewers removed Peralta after he allowed three runs on two hits in four innings. He fanned five and walked one.
Brewers manager Pat Murphy said of the relief corps’ failure, “We’ve been good all year in the bullpen. We had a lead in the game, and we had four of the best relievers in the game eligible, so we felt pretty good about it.”
Milwaukee scored twice in the fourth to go up 4-3. Sal Frelick, questionable after limping off the field with a bruised hip Friday, doubled to open the frame, and Brice Turang hit an infield single. Jackson Chourio tied it with an RBI single, and William Contreras added an RBI groundout.
The Mets erased a 2-0 deficit with three runs in second. Vientos singled and Alonso walked. Jesse Winker, hitless in his previous 15 at-bats, followed with a two-run triple to right. Starling Marte added a sacrifice fly.
The Brewers opened with three consecutive hits off Severino for a run in the first, with Contreras providing an RBI single. Rhys Hoskins was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to force in a second run.
–Jim Hoehn, Field Level Media
