CNN
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Pete Alonso hit a historic, go-ahead three-run home run in the ninth inning to lift the New York Mets to a 4–2 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers in their winner-take-all Game 3 of the NL Wild Card Series.

The Mets next play their NL East rival, the Philadelphia Phillies, in the National League Divisional Series (NLDS), which begins Saturday – the first time the teams will face each other in the postseason.

“I’m so happy I could get through it,” Alonso, who will be a free agent at the end of the season, said after the match. “It’s just something you practice in the backyard as a kid, you go through those scenarios as a little kid…words can’t explain it. It’s just surreal.”

Alonso’s home run off All-Star closer Devin Williams, which just cleared the wall in right field, sparked wild celebrations among Mets fans at American Family Field in Milwaukee. With free agency looming, this could have been the final act of his Mets career, but the potential last dance continues.

The crucial hit makes Alonso the first player in Major League history to hit a go-ahead homer in the ninth inning or later of a winner-takes-all postseason game.

“It’s that next-pitch mentality,” Alonso told reporters. “Every AB (at-bat), every pitch, every inning, I want to do the best I can. I’m focused on that and it’s baseball, it’s a game of failure.

“Sometimes that’s not the case, but especially in these big games you have to go to the next field and make a positive impact or do your best, stay true to yourself and execute.”

After the Mets came from behind to win 8-4 in Game 1, the Brewers evened the series with a 5-3 victory on Wednesday. And prior to Alonso’s home run, it looked like Milwaukee was destined to win a series for the first time since reaching Game 7 of the 2018 NLCS.

Milwaukee had opened a two-run lead in the seventh inning and appeared to be cruising along thanks to back-to-back home runs from Jake Bauers and Sal Frelick.

In the top of the ninth, the Brewers had retired twelve Mets batters in a row and allowed only two hits when Williams, who had capped off the team’s victory in Game 2, was brought in. But Alonso made sure this time was different.

“I’m just really happy that I was able to execute there and just hit something hard on a pitch that I could handle in a lot of the field,” he said.

Securing a playoff spot for the Mets seemed an unlikely prospect at several points throughout the season, not least when they trailed the Atlanta Braves in the top of the ninth inning on Monday. That was before Francisco Lindor hit a dramatic two-run homer to secure an 8-7 victory and a postseason berth.

New York has also made a comeback on a bigger scale this year, starting the season 22-33 and still making the playoffs. The stunning victory over the Brewers marks the first time the team has advanced in the postseason since 2015.

“We just saw one of the greatest games in Mets history,” said David Stearns, president of baseball operations. “It’s a franchise that has had remarkable late-inning, late-game comebacks in the playoffs and to be a part of this with this group is truly special.

“There was no way this season would end without something happening in that ninth inning,” he added.