MILWAUKEE — The Mets, a team accustomed to doing things the hard way all season, have set themselves up for their most difficult task to date. If their October run is to continue, they’ll have to win their first do-or-die challenge of 2024, as Phil Maton served up not one, but a pair of homers in the eighth inning to doom the Mets, 5-3, in an excruciating loss to the Brewers that sets up Thursday’s winner-take-all Game 3 of this Wild Card Series. Maybe the Mets are best in comeback mode, because Wednesday night, they led for seven innings, right after Francisco Alvarez’s RBI single and Francisco Lindor’s sacrifice fly put them in front, 3-1, in the second.
Just six outs away from holding onto a 3-2 lead and advancing to the Division Series, manager Carlos Mendoza called on Maton and the landslide was immediate. Jackson Chourio, the Brewers’ 20-year-old superstar, opened the eighth with his second homer of the game, suddenly igniting the long-dormant crowd of 40,350 at American Family Field. And once the roar began underneath the dome, it never went away.
Maton got to the brink of escaping with a double play, but a two-out single by Willy Adames was followed by Garrett Mitchell’s first-pitch homer — that caromed off the top of the rightfield wall. This time, the drama didn’t go in the Mets’ favor. After their lead evaporated in the thunderous dome, the Mets went in order in the ninth against closer Devin Williams, and now it’s onto a one-game October show.
