The Brewers' playoff monster struck again in the Wild Card Finals

Since then, the postseason has brought the Brewers nothing but pain.

They hoped this year would be different, with a new manager, the league's strongest bullpen and several new faces who ran the bases with abandon and played some of the best defense in baseball. But it happened again — and it might be the most exciting exit yet.

With lights-out closer Devin Williams on the mound with a two-run lead and the Brewers with two outs to snap their first-round bye streak at four, Mets slugger Pete Alonso hit Williams' best pitch — a changeup so good it has its own nickname, The Airbender — a As for the opposite field, the three-run home run that gave the Brewers a 4-2 loss in Game 3 of the National League Wild Card Series at American Family Field on Thursday night.

Earlier in the day, the teams were leading 105-7 going into the ninth inning of the winner-take-all season game, including an 82-2 multiple-run lead. But after overcoming those odds against one of the best relievers in baseball, it's the Mets who advance in the NL Division Series.

“It felt like a tragedy,” Brewers manager Pat Murphy said.

Williams said: “Nobody feels worse than me.”

If the seating bowl is shocking, imagine the scene in the clubhouse. The Brewers lost their last 13 postseason games for the 11th time, starting with a Game 7 loss to the Dodgers in the 2018 NLCS that started on Taylor's diving catch of a Christian Yelich line drive. Now the postseason losing streak stands at six and counting.

“After we lost, we were here for 15 minutes and nobody moved off the chair,” said Willie Adams, the Brewers' biggest pending free agent. “Hush. Hush. That tells you right there that we have a special talent and a special chemistry.

“I was never in the clubhouse with that chemistry. And it was kind of emotional to see that pain through everyone's eyes.”

Just like that, what had been a magical night for a Brewers team that wasn't supposed to get this far in the first place was ruined. Rookie Tobias Myers pitched five perfect, scoreless innings in his postseason debut. The Brewers finally got some cut against a pitcher who wasn't Mets starter and longtime Milwaukee nemesis Jose Quintana — and cashed in with back-to-back homers from Jake Bowers and Sal Frelick — before Trevor Magill and Nick Meyers followed scoreless innings. the seventh

It was all so impossible. Myers is a 26-year-old rookie who was traded three times, designated for assignment twice, waived and then released, and was coming off a 1-15 record and 7.82 ERA when he signed with Milwaukee as a minor league free agent. Agent in the fall of 2022. Bowers batted .199 during the regular season. Frelick hit two homers all year, the last on May 15.

It continued when Freddy Peralta, who had been so frustrated with being pulled after four innings before sitting out Game 1, came out of the bullpen for a 1-2-3 eighth inning that put Williams in position, with a new arm after spending the first four months. . Season recovering from a back injury, to close out the ninth.

“I wanted to be available for me, for the team, because we did something great this season,” Peralta said. “Everything was being decided that day. Even if I wasn't going to pitch, I wanted to be available.

“It was exciting for me that if I'm going to get three outs, then Devin is coming.”

It looked like Milwaukee's postseason demons were about to be ousted.

Then, they reappear.

A homer off Williams? rare A homer off a Williams changeup? almost impossible He allowed one home run in 22 2/3 innings in 2024, including his perfect ninth in the Brewers' win over the Mets in Game 2. And of his more than 2,300 career swings in the regular season and postseason, only six were hit for homers.

Now you can add a 3-1 pitch to Alonso.

“You go through these situations as a little kid,” Alonso said. “It's like, 'OK, you're in the playoffs, you're down by two runs…' I don't know. Words cannot explain it.”

Williams took all the blame, saying he got himself into a bad count as the Mets scored four runs on a costly leadoff walk to Francisco Lindor, a costly hit-by-pitch against Jesse Winker and three hits, including Alonso's homer — making him the first in MLB history. The player who hit the go-ahead homer in the ninth inning or later in a winner-take-all postseason game — and Sterling Mart's run-scoring single.

It was Alonso, about to become a free agent, who had five hits in his past 41 at-bats, no extra-base hits and just one RBI since Sept. 19.

“It could have been better but it wasn't the worst pitch I've ever thrown,” Williams said of the unfortunate changeup. “I wanted to walk away with it and I got it there, but it was a good chunk of hitting.”

He added, “This is the closest team I have ever played. It makes it that much more frustrating. Everyone did their job except me. I feel like I let everyone down.”

“Devin's being a professional, so he's obviously telling you that, but we all know he's not at fault there,” Frelick said. “That's a team loss right there.”

That means the Brewers will have to hear about early exits instead of accolades for joining the Astros, Braves, Dodgers and Yankees as the only teams that can claim at least six postseason berths at the same time.

“You can look at history if you want,” Murphy said. “But if you want to report on history, the Brewers have been to the playoffs six out of seven years on the smallest budget in one of the smallest markets in baseball. I think this is something that the organization should appreciate.”

They will try again in 2025.

“I love this team,” Murphy said. “I will never be able to duplicate 2024.”