MILWAUKEE (AP) — Willy Adames had just finished playing perhaps his final game with the Milwaukee Brewers when he described the most devastating of this franchise’s growing collection of playoff losses.

“Losing like that, when you’re that close, it’s like you’re a kid and they let you try candy, but they don’t give you the candy,” Adames said after the Brewers’ 4-2 loss to the home team . New York Mets in the decisive Game 3 of their NL Wild Card Series on Thursday evening. “They just let you taste it. … That’s what it felt like tonight.”

The Brewers have mastered the art of winning consistently in the regular season while playing in the smallest market in the Majors. This was their sixth playoff appearance in seven years and third NL Central title in four seasons.

Postseason success remains elusive.

They have lost 11 of their last 13 postseason games and haven’t won a playoff series since reaching Game 7 of the NL Championship Series in 2018. They made their only World Series appearance way back in 1982, playing in the American League. and have never won it all.

“If you want to emphasize that, that’s your right to do whatever you want to emphasize,” manager Pat Murphy said. “I would like to emphasize that the Brewers organization has been to the postseason six out of seven years, not with the biggest budget and, frankly, in a very small market. I think that’s something to hang your hat on. I’m disappointed like everyone else, but things happen.”

Nothing good happened for the Brewers in the ninth inning.

The Brewers were up 2-0 and had retired twelve straight Mets batters when they handed the game to Devin Williams, a two-time NL reliever of the year who had allowed just three runs all season. He gave up four in the ninth, including a three-run homer to Pete Alonso that put the Mets ahead for good.

“Everyone did their job except me,” Williams said. “I feel like I’ve let everyone down.”

Milwaukee led the NL and ranked second in the majors with a 3.11 bullpen ERA, but that relief corps had an up-and-down series.

The Brewers blew a 4-3 lead and lost 8-4 in Game 1 when Joel Payamps and Aaron Ashby combined to allow five runs in the fifth inning. The bullpen bounced back, throwing 5 1/3 shutout innings in Game 2 as the Brewers rallied to win 5-3. Then came Thursday’s ninth-inning collapse that left the Brewers stunned.

“After we lost, we stayed here for 15 minutes and no one moved from the chair,” Adames said. “Quiet. Quiet. That immediately tells you that there is a special talent and a special chemistry between us. I have never been in a clubhouse with that chemistry. And to see that pain through everyone’s eyes was quite emotional.”

Things got especially emotional when Bob Uecker, who has been broadcasting Brewers games for more than half a century, entered the clubhouse to congratulate and comfort the players.

As much as the Brewers wanted to win a World Series for themselves and their fans, they also wanted to do it for the 90-year-old Uecker.

“By far the hardest part of the night for me was just talking to Bob,” outfielder Christian Yelich said.

Yelich did not play in this series after undergoing season-ending back surgery this summer, one of several hurdles the Brewers overcame.

They lost manager Craig Counsell to the rival Chicago Cubs in the offseason. They traded 2021 Cy Young Award winner Corbin Burnes to the Baltimore Orioles. Brandon Woodruff never pitched all season as he recovered from shoulder surgery. Wade Miley and Robert Gasser’s season ended due to Tommy John surgery.

Still, the Brewers finally took over first place at the end of April, going 93-69 and winning the NL Central by 10 games.

“We have a lot to be proud of, right?” said first baseman Rhys Hoskins. “Just from where we were when the season started and, I think, the lack of expectations and what we were able to accomplish throughout the year. I don’t think this is something that should be lost.”

Now the budget-conscious Brewers enter another offseason of uncertainty as they deal with the possibility that Adames has priced himself out of Milwaukee.

Adames, one of the team’s emotional leaders, enters free agency having hit 32 home runs, driven in 112 runs and stolen 21 bases.

“The good news for Willy and his family is that I think the free-agent contract will be very valuable to him and quite high,” Brewers principal owner Mark Attanasio said ahead of the series. “And we will do what we can do to expand, but others have bigger pockets. We’ll see what happens.”

Adames discussed his future after the match.

“I can’t tell you if that was it or not,” Adames said. “Next year I would love to be here again and compete with my boys. It would be great. It would be special.”

Even if the Brewers lose Adames and other key players, their record suggests they will find a way to compete again. Many of their key contributors were rookies and second-year players, most notably 20-year-old Jackson Chourio, a budding superstar who thrived in the playoff spotlight and homered twice in Game 2.

But they will regret this missed opportunity for months to come.

“It felt like a tragedy,” Murphy said.

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