Pete Alonso’s ninth-inning home run lifts Mets over Brewers, NY to face Phillies in NLDS

Last updated: 2024/10/04 at 2:13 AM

BigP Published October 4, 2024

In what could have been his final at-bat in a New York Mets uniform, star first baseman Pete Alonso instead hit the biggest home run of his career, a go-ahead three-run opposite-field line drive in the ninth inning of the winner-take-all Game 3 of the Mets National League Wild Card series against the Milwaukee Brewers.

That turned a 2-0 deficit into a 3-2 Mets lead, stunning a crowd at American Family Field that had grown raucous as the Brewers took the lead on back-to-back home runs in the seventh inning and came within two outs of their first playoff series win since 2018. Alonso is now the first player in MLB history to hit a go-ahead home run while trailing in the ninth inning or later of a winner-take-all playoff game, per Opta Stats.

Instead, however, the wheels continued to fall off for Brewers closer Devin Williams. After retiring Jose Iglesias for the second out of the inning, Williams hit Jesse Winker with a fastball. Winker then stole second base and scored on a single from Starling Marte to give New York a 4-2 lead. Reliever David Peterson then worked around a leadoff single from Sal Frelick in the bottom of the ninth, inducing a game-ending double play ball to Francisco Lindor.

Time will tell whether Alonso’s dramatic home run will be the start of a possible Mets run to the World Series, but history is now on their side. Every team to have eliminated the Brewers from the playoffs has gone on to reach the Fall Classic.

The Mets’ comeback victory in the decisive Game 3 gave them their first playoff series win since claiming the NL pennant in 2015. New York will face the Philadelphia Phillies in the NLDS, marking the first time the two fierce rivals have ever met in the postseason. Game 1 of that series starts at 4:08 p.m. ET on FOX and the FOX Sports App.

New York went 6-7 against the Phillies during the regular season and finished six games behind them in the NL East standings.

The Associated Press contributed tothis report.

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