Brewers Fall Short of NLDS in Heartbreaking Fashion

The showdown between the Milwaukee Brewers and the New York Mets in the NLWC series had high expectations, and it did not disappoint.

This series didn’t come easy for either team, and it was a roller coaster for both fanbases.

For the Brewers, they came in with confidence. Being the first team to win their division this season, there was a special kind of energy surrounding this team, and they had serious World Series aspirations heading into this October.

But the Mets were ready to fight, and they were riding some tangible momentum from their surge in the second half of the season.

The battle between the two ball clubs truly came down to the final out, and the series set the tone for what should be an incredibly entertaining NLDS.

An Epic Game Three Finish

Game one kicked off in picture-perfect fashion for Milwaukee, jumping out to an early lead with the energy of the crowd behind them. But the Mets’ bats came to play early, and an implosion from the Brewers’ bullpen led to their downfall. A five-run fifth inning by the Mets would be enough to bury the Brewers and claim game one in decisive fashion.

The Brewers bounced back in a huge way in game two, and it was a matchup that featured plenty of fireworks.

The Mets carried a 3-2 lead into the bottom of the eighth inning, with the crowd at American Family Field on the cusp of explosion. Stepping to the plate was budding superstar Jackson Chourio, who already homered in the first inning of the ballgame, but he wasn’t finished leaving his mark on the game.

In a 1-1 count, Chourio sent a cutter over the heart of the plate to the opposite field for his second game-tying home run of the ballgame.

It was a homer for the history books: it was the first time a Brewers player hit two home runs in a postseason game in franchise history, and he joined Andruw Jones as the only players age 20 or younger with two home runs in a playoff game.

It was a career-defining moment for the budding superstar. The hit was a jolt of electricity for the crowd, and that was just the tip of the iceberg.

Following a two out Willy Adames single, Garrett Mitchell stepped to the plate with the opportunity of a lifetime. He didn’t waste much time, taking a first-pitch hanging curveball over the right field wall, taking the top off of the stadium to give the Brewers a 5-3 lead.

It’s one of the most memorable hits in franchise history, and it sparked momentum for the fans, the players, and the city of Milwaukee heading into what was going to be an epic elimination game three.

In somewhat unexpected fashion, it was a starting pitcher’s duel for a majority of the ballgame. Mets starter Jose Quintana went six scoreless innings while only allowing four hits, walking one, and striking out five.

Brewers rookie starter Tobias Myers matched Quintana’s pace, however, posting five dominant innings of his own. Myers finished the ballgame surrendering just two hits over five scoreless innings. It was clear that offense was going to come at a premium in this game.

It didn’t take long for the Brewers to capitalize once Quintana was removed from the ballgame in the seventh inning. In entered Mets reliever Jose Butto, who put together two perfect innings against Milwaukee in game one of this series. The results would be different this time around though.

Jake Bauers pinch hit for Rhys Hoskins to leadoff the inning, and he took advantage of his opportunity in the biggest way possible. Bauers launched a 3-2 changeup into the second deck of the right field bleachers, and the crowd completely erupted.

The fans at American Family Field didn’t have a lot of time to catch their breath. On the first pitch of the very next at-bat, Sal Frelick cranked a low-and-in four-seam fastball 408 feet over the right field wall, and it felt like the Brewers were finally destined to exorcise their postseason demons.

It’s well documented just how much the Brewers have struggled in the postseason as of late. Despite their incredible run of regular season dominance over the past handful of seasons, they’ve failed to translate that success into any degree of postseason results.

But this team felt different, and the back-to-back homers in the bottom of the seventh inning sparked a level of excitement that Brewers fans haven’t been able to experience in the postseason for quite some time.

The Mets were not going to go out without a fight though. The Brewers still needed to record six outs, and the top of the Mets’ order was looming. After a surprise entrance from Brewers ace Freddy Peralta in the bottom of the eighth inning, Peralta locked down the side, going three up and three down on the bottom of the Mets batting order.

The Brewers were three outs away from a date with the Phillies in the National League Division Series.

Enter Devin Williams. After missing the first few months of the regular season with fractures in his lower back, Williams returned to form, once again heading into October as one of the best closers in the sport.

He ended the year with a 1.25 ERA with an opponent batting average of .133 in 21.2 innings. Nobody was doubting his ability to finish the job, especially considering he was fresh off a spectacular outing in game two in which he tore through the top of the Mets’ lineup.

It would be a different task in game three though, as the Mets were in do-or-die mode, fighting to keep their season alive.

Following a leadoff walk to Francisco Lindor, Williams struck out Mark Vientos for the first out of the inning. With a runner on first and one out, Brandon Nimmo drove a single to right field on an 0-2 changeup left over the heart of the plate, giving a sliver of life to the Mets. As it turns out, a sliver of hope is all the Mets needed.

Due up was slugger Pete Alonso, who was in dire need of redemption at the plate. Alonso was 1-for-8 heading into his bottom of the ninth at-bat, and everybody watching felt as if he was due for his big moment. After taking a first pitch changeup for a strike, Williams failed to locate his next three pitches, drawing the count to 3-1.

Alonso was sitting changeup, and Williams gave him one to hit. Alonso put a great swing on a changeup that caught too much of the plate, and he knew that it was gone from the second that it left the bat.

With one swing of the bat, Milwaukee’s season was over. The energy was completely zapped out of American Family Field, and the Brewers’ offense failed to answer in the bottom of the ninth.

It marks the sixth-straight postseason series loss for the Brewers. Once again, despite all their regular season success, their season is finished after another Wild Card Series loss. Fans are left with a tremendous amount of disappointment, despite what was an overwhelming successful regular season.

New Team, Same Story

It felt as if the 2024 Milwaukee Brewers were destined for a different fate from the teams that came before them. But in the end, it’s another disappointing first round exit for a team that dominated in the regular season.

In 2021, the Brewers won 95 games and had the best starting rotation in the National League. Corbin Burnes would be the eventual Cy Young award winner, Brandon Woodruff also finished top-five in Cy Young voting that season, and Freddy Peralta put together his lone All-Star season to round out their three-headed monster in the starting rotation.

They’d win just one postseason game that year, losing their first matchup three games to one to the Atlanta Braves in the NLDS.

The Brewers returned to the postseason in 2023 after winning 92 games on the shoulders of their dominant starting rotation that fans have become accustomed to seeing. Expectations were high for the Brewers, as they were set to host an Arizona Diamondbacks team that snuck into the playoffs.

They would end up being swept at home in that National League Wild Card Series.

This 2024 Brewers team felt different. They had a new manager at the helm who was clearly the right man for the job and is in line to win the NL Manager of the Year award. What’s more, their offense took an enormous step forward and was more inspiring than it has been in recent memory.

Winning 93 games and being the first team to win their division in decisive fashion, the vibes were high ever since the beginning of the season. It felt as if this team truly believed that they had what it takes to get over the hump.

And yet, the Brewers suffer the same fate as previous teams, failing to win even a single playoff series after a dominant regular season.

Unfortunately, early postseason exits are becoming a trend for the Brewers. So much so, that it’s going to be difficult to ever buy into this ball cub in the future until they prove that they are capable of translating their strong regular season into postseason results.

The Brewers had so much to prove this postseason. They had fresh faces calling the shots in the front office, a new skipper leading the way to success, and a retooled roster that was firing on all cylinders for a majority of the regular season. If there was ever a time to shake their unfortunate track record, this was the time, and they came up short yet again.

By all accounts, it was a good season for Milwaukee. They crushed their preseason win total and won back-to-back division titles for the first time since 1982. They were the first team to clinch their division, when they weren’t even the favorites to win the NL Central heading into Opening Day.

And yet, this season still feels like a large disappointment. That sentiment is starting to become a trend in Milwaukee.

Regular season success is certainly meaningful, but when a team consistently has championship aspirations and perpetually falls short, the postseason flounders compound over time. This team appeared primed to break their recent streak of early postseason exits, but they once again go home empty handed with so much left to be desired.