MILWAUKEE (AP) — Francisco Lindor capped a stirring comeback and made sure the playoff-bound New York Mets maintained their narrow NL East lead.
Bob Uecker on the call early Wednesday for the Brewers-Mets finale. Pregame at 12:35 p.m. Tune in on 96.7 FM / 580 AM
Lindor hit a two-out grand slam in the seventh inning to put New York ahead for good as the Mets rallied from a four-run deficit to beat the Milwaukee Brewers 7-5 on Tuesday.
The Mets won their sixth in a row and remained one game ahead of the defending World Series champion Atlanta Braves, who have won five straight.
The Mets staged this rally one night after clinching their first postseason berth since 2016 with a 7-2 triumph at Milwaukee.
“Every game is extremely important,” Lindor said. “We’re in a fight. We said yesterday that’s not the end goal. We wanted to clinch, obviously, but that’s not the end goal.”
Pete Alonso hit his second three-run homer in as many nights as the Mets won with just four hits.
“This is fun,” Alonso said. “This is what you’re all excited for. This is what you work for in the offseason, this type of race. You have two great teams. It’s just really fun because you get to find out what you’re made of.”
The Brewers dropped their third straight and are 2 1/2 games behind the Philadelphia Phillies in the race for the NL’s last wild-card spot. The Phillies own the tiebreaker advantage because they won the season series with the Brewers.
Milwaukee’s loss clinched a playoff spot for Atlanta.
“We’re close enough where we play really well and we can take care of our own business,” Brewers manager Craig Counsell said. “We still sit in that spot tonight. We’re going to sit in that spot for a while. But it’s obviously going to take us winning games.”
Willy Adames went 4 for 5 with two RBIs and a pair of doubles for the Brewers.
Milwaukee had retired 14 straight batters and led 4-0 with one out in the sixth when the Mets began their charge.
Brad Boxberger entered at that point and hit Mark Canha with a pitch before allowing a single to Lindor. Alonso then hit a 425-foot drive that easily cleared the center-field wall and extended his NL-leading RBI total to 121.
Boxberger regrouped to get out of the sixth and then retired the leadoff man in the seventh before giving way to Taylor Rogers, who walked the bases loaded before striking out Canha.
That brought up Lindor, who sent the first pitch he saw over the left-field wall to put the Mets ahead 7-4. Lindor’s grand slam traveled an estimated 413 feet.
Rogers (4-8) has allowed 14 runs in 19 innings for a 6.63 ERA since joining the Brewers as part of the package they received in the trade that sent four-time All-Star closer Josh Hader to the San Diego Padres. Rogers has given up six homers since joining the Brewers after allowing just one in 41 1/3 innings with the Padres.
“There’s just no excuse for it,” Rogers said. “You can say new place, new catchers, new all this stuff, but you’ve just got to keep the ball in the yard, and I haven’t been doing that.”
The Brewers brought the tying run to the plate in the seventh, but pinch-hitter Jace Peterson struck out swinging on a 3-2 pitch from Trevor May.
Adames’ two-out RBI single enabled the Brewers to again bring the tying run to the plate in the eighth, but Edwin Díaz came in and struck out Rowdy Tellez.
Díaz closed in the ninth for his 31st save. Joely Rodríguez (2-4) earned the win with one inning of shutout relief.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Mets: RHP Drew Smith (right lat strain) was reinstated from the injured list and RHP Tommy Hunter (lower back tightness) went on the injured list retroactive to Saturday.
Brewers: Aaron Ashby came off the injured list and pitched two scoreless innings as the Brewers’ opener in his first appearance since Aug. 19. Ashby had been dealing with shoulder inflammation. … Counsell said LHP Eric Lauer (elbow) is trending toward a Friday return when the Brewers are in Cincinnati.
UP NEXT
RHP Taijuan Walker (12-4, 3.42) pitches for the Mets and RHP Adrian Houser (6-9, 4.85) starts for the Brewers as this series concludes Wednesday afternoon.
TOP PHOTO: New York Mets’ Francisco Lindor reacts in front of Milwaukee Brewers catcher Omar Narvaez after hiiting a grand slam during the seventh inning of a baseball game Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2022, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)
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