In a game the Mets needed and the Brewers didn’t, Milwaukee is shut out
The Milwaukee Brewers played a stress-free game at American Family Field today. Locked into the National League’s No. 3 seed, the Brewers had no vested interest in a win on this day, and depending on how the team may have considered manipulating the NL’s wild card standings, they may actually have had an active desire to lose. That was not, of course, the case for the New York Mets, one of three teams vying for two available slots at the bottom of the NL playoff bracket, a team looking for a win after losing to Milwaukee on Friday and Saturday. For Milwaukee, it was Colin Rea on the hill for game number 162, in a position where he was asked to throw as many pitches as possible, so as to maximize bullpen rest before the postseason begins on Tuesday.
The Mets, who weren’t technically in a must-win game but would really be helped by a win, got off to a nice start by manufacturing a run: Francisco Lindor walked, stole second, and scored on a base hit by Brandon Nimmo. The Mets continued to threaten—Nimmo also stole second and Pete Alonso walked—but Rea got out of the inning without any further runs scoring.
Milwaukee, looking for an answer, got a one-out single from Jackson Chourio, which was followed by a Willy Adames walk. But Jake Bauers grounded into a fielder’s choice and Eric Haase struck out, and Mets starter David Peterson was through the first without allowing a run.
Both pitchers dealt with a little bit of traffic in the second, but nothing came of Francisco Alvarez’s single nor Blake Perkins’ walk. Jose Iglesias led off the third with a base hit but didn’t make it beyond second base, and Peterson sat down the Brewers in order in the bottom of the inning.
Rea ran into trouble in the third; J.D. Martinez led off with a double and moved to third on a bunt. Alvarez, Tyrone Taylor, and Lindor then hit back-to-back-to-back singles, scoring Martinez and Alvarez to make it 3-0. Lindor stole second to put runners at second and third with one out, but Rea struck out Iglesias and got Nimmo to ground out to end the inning.
Milwaukee had another 1-2-3 inning in the bottom of the fourth, despite good contact from Isaac Collins on a lineout to left field. New York tacked on another in the fifth; Mark Vientos led off with a single, moved over when Pete Alonso was hit by a pitch, both advanced on a wild pitch, Marte was intentionally walked, and Vientos scored on a sac fly from Alvarez. Rea limited the damage to that one run, but the Mets’ lead was up to four.
Gary Sánchez drew a walk in the fifth but was erased on a Joey Ortiz double play. Lindor popped a solo homer to lead off the sixth, and the Mets—doing a solid impression of the Brewers on Friday—were doing an excellent job of adding on runs. Rea got two outs after that but was pulled from the game after Vientos hit a single that bounced off of him; he took one for the team today and allowed five earned runs in 5 2⁄3 innings while throwing 106 pitches. Hoby Milner came in and finished the inning.
The Brewers again went down in order in the sixth. In the top of the seventh, the Brewers made a nice move by removing Willy Adames from the game after the first out, allowing him to get a standing ovation from the crowd in what is likely his last regular season game as a Brewer. On the baseball side, Milner got through a clean seventh inning.
After another 1-2-3 inning in the bottom of the seventh, DL Hall replaced Milner and worked around a two-out single by Iglesias to keep the score at 5-0. In the bottom of the eighth, Milwaukee almost got on the board—Sánchez singled with one out, Turang singled with two outs, and Chourio just missed his 22nd home run on a ball that Nimmo caught while gently bumping into the left-field wall.
Hall continued in the ninth and gave up a two-out single to Martinez but had no trouble finishing his second scoreless inning. In a bit of an interesting twist, Edwin Díaz entered in a five-run game in the bottom of the ninth even though the Mets will be playing at least one must-win game on Monday. In any case, Díaz closed the game out (despite a one-out walk to Bauers) and the Mets held on to their lead for the victory.
There wasn’t much to write home about in this one if you’re a Brewer fan; a team that lacked any real motivation to actually win this game instead opted for a relaxed, restful atmosphere, exactly as they should have done.
Elsewhere, the Diamondbacks won their game 11-2 and the Braves lost to Kansas City 4-2. This means that Milwaukee will not play the Braves, as they’re either the No. 5 seed or they’re out. Here are tomorrow’s scenarios:
- If Atlanta or New York win both games of Monday’s doubleheader, the winner will play San Diego, the Brewers will play Arizona, and the loser will be eliminated.
- If Atlanta and New York split, the Diamondbacks are eliminated, the Brewers play the Mets, and Atlanta plays San Diego.
The regular season is over. The record is 93-69. The playoffs begin on Tuesday, and Milwaukee will be a participant for the sixth time in the last seven seasons. Do not take this era for granted!