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    • Brewers stun Mets to force decisive Game 3 in wild-card round
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    Brewers stun Mets to force decisive Game 3 in wild-card round

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    And the youth will lead them.

    The Milwaukee Brewers stood six outs away from bowing out again in the postseason, getting a game-tying home run from Jackson Chourio and a go-ahead, two-run home run from Garrett Mitchell to blast past the New York Mets, 5-3, Wednesday night in Game 2 of the National League wild card series at American Family Field.

    Chourio’s home run was his second of the game; he opened the bottom of the first inning with an opposite-field shot off Mets starter Sean Manaea, three pitches in.

    Mitchell, meanwhile, had entered the game as a pinch-runner in the sixth inning. The at bat was his first of the game and came after Willy Adames singled to left with two outs to tie the score at 3-3.

    Phil Maton hung a curveball on the first pitch and Mitchell hit it to right-center, sending the crowd into ecstasy as he gestured to the fans as he circled the bases.

    Devin Williams retired the Mets in order in the ninth, putting the finishing touches to the Brewers’ six-game playoff losing streak dating back to 2021.

    Jackson Chourio has a short memory

    “I think it’s going to be a great game,” Chourio told reporters early Tuesday afternoon.

    Then, three pitches into the bottom of the first Wednesday, he hit an 0-2 sinker that Manaea left across the plate to right to tie the Brewers with the Mets at 1-1 and send the crowd of 40,350 into a frenzy. to take. .

    It was the second postseason leadoff homer in franchise history. Corey Hart opened Game 6 of the 2011 NLCS by going deep against the St. Louis Cardinals.

    What a response from the 20-year-old Chourio to his fifth-inning blunder in Game 1, a miscue that helped open the door to a game-turning five-run rally by the Mets in an 8-4 loss.

    The first-inning homer was the second Manaea allowed to the Brewers in five days. Rhys Hoskins hit a grand slam against him last Friday.

    More fielding problems for Milwaukee pitchers

    Three batters after Chourio mishandled Tyrone Taylor’s fly ball for a double in Game 1, Joel Payamps failed to cover first base in time on a José Iglesias ground ball. That slight hesitation allowed Iglesias to slide headfirst into the pocket just before Payamps touched him, and the dam burst soon after.

    A similar error was made in the second inning on Wednesday, only this time by Frankie Montas and on a ground ball to the right side by Starling Marte.

    Hoskins fielded the ball and made a perfect throw to Montas, who got to the bag in plenty of time but somehow failed to make the catch. Taylor and Francisco Alvarez followed with singles, then Francisco Lindor hit a sacrifice fly to left to give New York the lead again, 3-1.

    It’s the fourth postseason game Montas has played in during his nine-year career, and there probably haven’t been many easier plays than the ones he didn’t make.

    Another short leash for a Milwaukee starter

    Freddy Peralta allowed three second-inning runs in Game 1, but eventually found his groove, retiring nine batters in a row before being pulled by manager Pat Murphy with a pitch count of just 68.

    There’s certainly something to the “third time through the order” argument, but after seeing things immediately go south as soon as Payamps came in, it only added more fuel to the fire for fans who felt that Murphy’s hook for Peralta was too fast.

    Montas had retired six of seven batters, including the last two via strikeout, before being lifted by Murphy with a runner on second base in the fourth and his pitch count at 60.

    Trevor Megill came in and made a catch to keep the game at 3-1 and close the book on a six-hit, three-run (one earned), one-walk and three-strikeout start for Montas.

    The Brewers’ veterans are (mostly) missing

    One of the more intriguing storylines in the series was how the Brewers’ core of young and inexperienced players would perform with the lights on the brightest.

    It turns out they’ve been more than okay. Chourio has shined, Brice Turang has multiple goals in every game and Sal Frelick has shown tremendous toughness in overcoming a painful left hip contusion to generate strikes at the bottom of the lineup.

    Milwaukee’s veterans, however, were a different story.

    Adames was 0 for 3 with a walk in Game 1 and 1 for 4 with a run scored in Game 2. William Contreras was 1 for 4 with two RBI in Game 1 and 1 for 4 in Game 2. And Hoskins was 0 for 3 with an RBI and a walk in Game 1 and 0 for 4 in Game 2.

    Needless to say, it’s hard to win any game with such a glaring lack of production from your best and most consistent producers, let alone in the postseason.

    The rookie comes through again

    And at just the right moment, when the Brewers needed a lift and the air had been let out of the crowd of 40,350, Chourio delivered.

    With New York leading 3-2 and just three outs away from being able to hand the game over to closer Edwin Diaz, the rookie stepped up to the plate against the right-handed Maton.

    In a 1-1 count, Chourio got a cutter across the plate and sent the ball to right again, this time hitting it off the face of the second deck to make it 3-3.

    Speaking of clutch artists. Do you think the Brewers are happy about the kid being locked up for an extended period of time?

    This story has been updated to add new information.

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