Pete Alonso hit a go-ahead, three-run homer off All-Star closer Devin Williams in the ninth inning and the New York Mets beat the Milwaukee Brewers 4-2 on Thursday night to win their Major League Baseball National League (NL) Wild Card Series.
With their latest thrilling comeback in the decisive Game 3 against Milwaukee, the Mets advanced in the playoffs for the first time since winning the 2015 National League pennant. They moved on to a best-of-five Division Series beginning today in Philadelphia against the NL East champion Philadelphia Phillies.
It would be the first post-season meeting between the heated rivals.
Photo: AP
“This has been unreal. What a ride,” Alonso said. “I’m just excited to help keep this team alive.”
The slugger became the first major leaguer to hit a go-ahead homer when his team was trailing in the ninth inning or later of a winner-take-all postseason game, according to data compiled by Opta.
“This is something that you practice as a kid in the backyard,” Alonso said.
The NL Central champion Brewers, making their sixth playoff appearance in seven years, still have not won a post-season series since reaching Game 7 of the 2018 National League Championship Series.
This loss will be particularly painful.
“I love this team,” manager Pat Murphy said. “I love them. I’ll never be able to duplicate 2024. It didn’t end the way we wanted to. It ended tragically, actually.”
Milwaukee appeared to have the victory in hand after pinch-hitter Jake Bauers and Sal Frelick broke a scoreless tie by opening the seventh inning with back-to-back homers on consecutive pitches from Jose Butto. Rookie right-hander Tobias Myers and three Brewers relievers combined on a two-hit shutout through the first eight innings.
In fact, 12 straight Mets had been retired when they entered the ninth against Williams, a two-time NL reliever of the year who had earned the save on Wednesday in Milwaukee’s Game 2 victory.
However, he was not his normal self on this night.
“I’m not going to make any excuse,” Williams said. “I didn’t execute the way I needed to. They got the job done and I didn’t.”
Francisco Lindor opened the inning by working an eight-pitch walk. Mark Vientos struck out, then Brandon Nimmo singled sharply on an 0-2 pitch to put runners at the corners.
That brought up Alonso, who has 226 career home runs in six seasons, but had not delivered an extra-base hit since homering on Sept. 19.
After getting ahead 3-1 in the count, Alonso drove a 138kph changeup to the opposite field over the wall in right.
He put his fingers to his mouth in a “chef’s kiss” gesture as he rounded first base and gave New York the lead.
Taiwan kept their hopes of advancing to next year’s World Baseball Classic (WBC) alive with a 9-1 victory over South Africa in a qualifier at the Taipei Dome on Saturday, backed by solid pitching. Taiwan last night played against Nicaragua. As of press time, Nicaragua was leading 6-0. Bouncing back from Friday’s struggles on the mound, when Taiwanese pitchers surrendered 15 runs to Spain, Team Taiwan on Saturday kept the visiting team in check, allowing just one run in the bottom of the fourth inning. Starting pitcher Sha Tzu-chen struck out one and allowed no hits, except for a hit-by-pitch over
Team Taiwan are set to face Spain in a win-or-go-home match tonight for the final berth at the 2026 World Baseball Classic (WBC), despite losing to Nicaragua 6-0 in the WBC qualifier at the Taipei Dome on Sunday. The home team’s loss on Sunday means Nicaragua finish first in the qualifier round in Taipei with a perfect 3-0 record and advances to next year’s finals. After crushing South Africa 9-1 earlier on Sunday, Spain took second place in the four-team qualifier with a 2-1 record. With a 1-2 record, Taiwan finished third while South Africa placed at the bottom with
Taiwan kept its hopes of advancing to the 2026 World Baseball Classic (WBC) alive with a 9-1 victory over South Africa in a qualifier at the Taipei Dome last night, backed by solid pitching. Bouncing back from Friday’s struggles on the mound, when Taiwanese pitchers surrendered 15 runs to Spain, Team Taiwan kept the visiting team in check, allowing just one run in the bottom of the fourth inning. The win was crucial for Taiwan, as a loss would have eliminated the team from contention for the next WBC. Starting pitcher Sha Tzu-chen (沙子宸) struck out one and allowed no hits, except for
LONG TIME COMING: With the addition of Marcus Smart, the Washington Wizards finally held a team to under 100 points, the last team this season to do so The Detroit Pistons on Monday won their seventh straight game in the NBA with in-form Cade Cunningham making 32 points and grabbing nine rebounds in a 106-97 win over the Los Angeles Clippers. The Pistons, who are in the playoff position, moved to 32-26, their best record at this stage of a season for 17 years. It was an all-round effort from Detroit with Tobias Harris adding 20 points and Jalen Duren making 19 rebounds along with his 12 points. It was a tight contest until Detroit pulled away late in the third quarter to tie their longest winning streak since the 2014-2015