Pete Alonso sends New York Mets to NLDS with dramatic ninth-inning homer
The New York Mets found late magic Thursday night off the bat of Pete Alonso, who launched a ninth inning home run into the Milwaukee night that led to a miraculous Mets comeback.
The Mets came from behind to beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 4-2, to advance to the National League Division Series. The best-of-3 series-clinching wild card win sends the Mets to Philadelphia, where the Mets and Phillies begin the NLDS on Saturday.
New York didn’t make things easy on themselves Thursday night in Milwaukee.
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Trailing 2-0 in the top of the ninth and two outs from elimination, New York rallied against Devin Williams to steal a 4-2 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers and move on to the National League Division Series.
Francisco Lindor opened up the inning with a walk, and two batters later, Brandon Nimmo singled to put runners on the corners — that had been the first hit by a Met other than Lindor on the night, as Lindor had been 2-for-3, but everyone else combined to go 0-for-24.
That brought up slugger Pete Alonso. The righty laced a pitch to opposite field that crept over the right field wall to give New York a 3-2 lead, causing pandemonium in the dugout and on the basepaths.
Starling Marte added an RBI single for good measure to pad the lead.
Because Edwin Diaz had pitched a part of the seventh and the entire eighth with the Mets trailing, the Mets brought in David Peterson for the save. He promptly allowed a leadoff single to Sal Frelick, who went back-to-back with Jake Bauers in the seventh, but he struck out Joey Ortiz and got Brice Turang to ground into a 6-6-3 double play to give the Mets the series victory.
The miraculous victory is déjà vu for the Mets as it comes just three days after the Mets fought back from down 3-0 in the eighth, and 7-6 in the ninth, against the Atlanta Braves to clinch a postseason spot in their first game of a doubleheader.
Everything looked like it was down the drain for the Mets, who, after pulling Jose Quintana following six scoreless innings, allowed back-to-back homers to start the seventh inning. However, Alonso's blast was the first ever by a Met while trailing in the 9th inning or later of a winner-take-all postseason game, according to OPTA Stats.
This also marks the first time since 2006 that both the Mets and New York Yankees are in the division series - it's not too early to wonder about a Subway Series, right?
The Mets will now face their NL East rival Philadelphia Phillies in the National League Division Series. Philly is the No. 2 seed in the NL, and it's the first time the two teams have ever faced off in the postseason.
The season series was as tight as it gets, with Philly winning seven of their 13 games. The series begins in Philadelphia on Saturday at 4:08 p.m. ET.
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