Game Notes, NLWC – Mets v. Brewers

Of all the postseason home runs that have punctured a tense October (or November) air, 232 of them have resounded within a winner-take-all scenario.  Across those singular swings and flights during the tension of a win-or-go-home affair, only two have ever occurred as late as the eighth inning and stunningly reversed the projected outcome, where the hero-to-be swinger transformed a deficit into a lead.  

For all of the intimated drama of such a swat, the first author of his kind is probably mostly forgotten.  In Game 7 of the 1960 Fall Classic, before Bill Mazeroski sang a cover version of “The Shot Heard ‘Round the World,” Pirates catcher Hal Smith sent one out of the park to score Dick Groat and Roberto Clemente and himself to give Pittsburgh a 9-7 advantage in the bottom of the eighth.

Smith would be an island unto himself until 2024, when Pete Alonso drove one into the seats that, if it didn’t echo from coast to coast, surely reverberated throughout and beyond the city that never sleeps.  To add some extra staying power to the audio waves, he did it in the ninth.

Before Alonso’s whoa moment came in Game 3 of the NL Wild Card tussle between the Mets and Brewers, some other memorable events and performances served as crucial plotlines to set the stage.  Here are a few.

Game 1

Making his postseason debut, Mets third baseman Mark Vientos collected two hits, two runs and two RBI – a spectacular start in a strong opener as New York toppled Milwaukee 8-4.  Vientos became the 32nd player in postseason history to have his first postseason line include at least two hits, runs and RBI.  Ducky Medwick, for the Cardinals in Game 1 of the 1934 World Series, was the first to do it.  Vientos joined Edgardo Alfonzo (1999) and Carlos Delgado (2006) as Mets to do this.  Interestingly, at 22 years and 313 days old, Medwick is still the youngest of the group.  Vientos (24 years, 295 days old) is the eighth youngest.

Game 2

Jackson Chourio put a pair into the seats in a 5-3 victory for the Brewers.  Both – a leadoff homer in the first and a tying shot to open the eighth – made for some perky connections.  Since it’s going to be the starting point for a few different notes, it’s useful to headline here:  Chourio was 20 years and 205 days old for this win.

~Chourio became the second youngest player ever to produce a multi-homer effort in the postseason.  Andruw Jones – 19 years and 180 days old for his two-homer line in Game 1 of the 1996 World Series – is the only one younger than the Brewers outfielder.  Behind Chourio, only three others even did this before their 22nd birthday:  Tony Kubek in 1957, Carlos Correa in 2015 and Fernando Tatis, Jr. in 2020.

~Chourio is one of 10 different players ever to have been shy of their 21st birthday and to have gone yard in the playoffs.  By number of games in which they homered before turning 21:

Miguel Cabrera (4)

Juan Soto (3)

Mickey Mantle (2)

Andruw Jones (2)

Rafael Devers (2)

Wander Franco (2)

Manny Machado (1)

Bryce Harper (1)

Ronald Acuña, Jr. (1)

Jackson Chourio (1)

~Chourio became the youngest player ever in postseason history to generate a homer to lead off the first inning.  Before this historic blast, Ronald Acuña, Jr. (22 years and 293 days old) had been the youngest, thanks to his effort in Game 1 of the 2020 NLDS.  Before him, it had been José Reyes (23 years, 129 days old in the 2006 NLCS, G6). 

~Here’s the complete list of all postseason players to lead off the first inning with a homer and then to go yard again as late as the eighth:  Jackson Chourio.

Chourio’s leadoff home run in the eighth inning of Game 2 evened the score at three.  A few batters later, Garrett Mitchell clubbed a two-run homer to give Milwaukee the lead.  It’s uncommon* to see a team produce a game-tying and go-ahead home run in the same frame, so late in a playoff game (eighth inning or later).  This was the fifth instance of it occurring.  Counting backward:

2024 NLWC, G2:  Jackson Chourio and Garrett Mitchell for the Brewers in the eighth inning

2017 NLDS, G2:  Bryce Harper and Ryan Zimmerman for the Nationals in the eighth inning

2008 NLCS, G4:  Shane Victorino and Matt Stairs for the Phillies in the eighth inning

2002 ALDS, G2:  Garret Anderson and Troy Glaus for the Angels in the eighth inning

1999 NLCS, G4:  Brian Jordan and Ryan Klesko for the Braves in the eighth inning

*At least it seemed uncommon exactly when Chourio and Mitchell pulled off this 1-2 combination.  Two weeks later, the Yankees (courtesy of Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton) would do this in Game 3 of the ALCS (only to lose the affair).

Game 3

Facing elimination, trailing 2-0 and down to their final three outs, the Mets rallied for a quartet of runs in the ninth and authored a somewhat-improbable 4-2 win to advance to the NLDS.

In the ninth, Pete Alonso delivered a one-out, three-run homer to switch a 2-0 deficit into a 3-2 lead.

~Alonso’s turnaround swing represented the 10th* time a batter struck a go-ahead home run in the ninth inning or later when trailing.  The first of these 10 came in the 1985 NLCS, when Jack Clark hit a three-run shot with his Cardinals down 5-4 with two outs in the ninth.  Clark’s blast arrived in Game 6, with St. Louis leading the series, three games to two.  

*See the wrap-up portion for more about Alonso’s home run and this postseason.

~Unlike the circumstances surrounding Clark’s homer, Alonso’s came with his club facing the specter of being eliminated in the series.  Of the 10 times a player homered in the ninth inning or later to turn a deficit into a lead, three have come in a potential elimination contest.

1986 ALCS, Game 5:  Red Sox down 3-1 in the series.  Dave Henderson’s two-run shot in the ninth comes with the Angels leading 5-4 and with two outs.  

2005 NLCS, Game 5:  Cardinals down 3-1 in the series.  Albert Pujols’ three-run shot in the ninth comes with the Astros leading 4-2 and with two outs.

2024 NLWC, Game 3:  Mets and Brewers tied at one game apiece.  Pete Alonso’s three-run shot in the ninth comes with the Brewers leading 2-0 and with one out.

~Among the 10 circumstances being explored here, Alonso’s blast marked the second time a Met has been the agent.  In Game 3 of the 1986 NLCS, Lenny Dykstra clocked a two-run walk-off with New York down 5-4 to Houston.

Jose Quintana contributed six scoreless frames in the Mets’ clinching victory.  This game marked the ninth time a Mets starter has taken the mound in a winner-take-all scenario, and Quintana showed up to produce one of the stingier offerings.  Among the nine, he produced the second highest Game Score and became the second to finish the start with no runs allowed.

~Quintana’s 68 Game Score sits behind Noah Syndergaard’s 80 in the one-game NL Wild Card battle against the Giants in 2016.   Similar to Quintana, Syndergaard exited with the game scoreless.

~Quintana and Syndergaard are the two Mets’ starters to finish their outings with no runs surrendered.  In 2016, New York’s right-hander went seven scoreless and added 10 strikeouts.

~Quintana and Milwaukee’s Tobias Myers (5.0 IP, 0 R) joined the club of starters taking the hill in a winner-take-all fest, with the roll call stretching to 262 names with their inclusion.*  Before this pair in 2024, only two others had faced one another and each finished with zeroes in the runs allowed column.

1991 WS, G7:  Jack Morris (Twins) and John Smoltz (Braves)

2016 WC, G1:  Madison Bumgarner (Giants) and Noah Syndergaard (Mets)

^Morris and Bumgarner tossed shutouts^

*The attendee list would grow by four more by the end of the 2024 postseason.  

Wrap-Up

Jackson Chourio hit safely in all three Wild Card games to conclude the round with a total of five knocks.  

~He is one of two Brewers in the franchise’s history to collect as many as five hits  through his first three career postseason games.  In 2018, Erik Kratz also recorded five. 

~For all franchises, Chourio is one of 24 players to – through their first three playoff contests – have at least five hits with at least two home runs.  This two dozen features four who managed the action before turning 23 years old.  

Jimmie Foxx in 1929:  two homers, five hits

Tony Kubek in 1957:  two homers, five hits

Fernando Tatis, Jr. in 2020:  two homers, five hits

Jackson Chourio in 2024:  two homers, five hits

*The Game 3 home run by Pete Alonso would find a companion of sorts in the World Series, when Freddie Freeman hit a walk-off grand slam to give the Dodgers a 6-3 win over the Yankees.  Thus, the 2024 playoffs produced two go-ahead longballs in the ninth inning or later with the batter’s team trailing.  Only once before – the 1986 postseason – had two of these occurrences taken place in the same year.  That year, Lenny Dykstra and Dave Henderson did the honors, for the Mets and Red Sox, respectively.  

With the outcome, the Mets improved to 4-5 in winner-take-all games.  The Brewers fell to 2-5.  All-time, home teams dropped to 65-66.

Thanks to Baseball Reference and its extraordinary research database, Stathead, for help in assembling this piece.