The Milwaukee Brewers and New York Mets faced off in the regular season’s final weekend, and they’ll do it again this week in the NL Wild Card Round. The stakes were high for the Mets, who needed to win a rescheduled doubleheader against the Braves on Monday to secure a playoff spot. The Brewers won the NL Central by a wide margin a time back.
The Milwaukee Brewers have dominated the head-to-head series matchup against the New York Mets 5-1.
How the Brewers cruised to the National League Title
Last summer, Milwaukee saw two major departures: top pitcher Corbin Burnes to the Orioles and manager Craig Counsell to their opponent, the Chicago Cubs. Throw in a season-long injury to another top-tier pitcher, Brandon Woodruff, and the Brewers were in a bad spot straight away. Those concerns, however, did not deter Manager Pat Murphy and his Brewers, who went wire-to-wire for the N.L. Central crown. They dominated the division, finishing 10.0 games ahead of second-place St. Louis and Chicago. Milwaukee finished the season 93-69, earning the third seed in the National League.
In terms of recent form, the Brewers finished the year on a high note, winning five of their final seven games. They did drop their season finale 5-0 to the Mets, and the defeat ultimately fell on the arm of Colin Rea (5.2 IP, 5 ER). Offensively, the team mustered up only three hits, all of which were singles.
Overall, the Brewers’ offense was in the top ten in Major League Baseball. They concluded the regular season ranked ninth in team batting average (.248), tenth in OPS (.729), and sixteenth in home runs (177). The pitching staff ranked fifth in ERA (3.65) and tenth in WHIP (1.24).
How the Mets squeaked into the postseason
The Mets had a fairly disappointing start to the season, sitting 11 games under.500 at 22-33 on May 29. Since then, under manager Carlos Mendoza, New York has become one of the league’s hottest teams, ending the season 67-40. Despite their strong finish to the season, the Mets had to wait until Monday’s season-ending doubleheader against the Braves to secure a playoff position. New York won the first game of the doubleheader 9-8, securing their playoff position.
This year, the Mets have seen contributions from all around the roster. Offensively, Francisco Lindor had an outstanding year, leading the league in average (.273), RBI (91), and OBP (.344). He hit his 33rd home shot of the season in the top of the ninth inning of Game 1 on Monday, giving the Mets the lead and enabling them advance to the playoffs. Overall, the offensive was 12th in team batting average (.246) and ninth in OPS (.734).
I have to ride along with the Milwaukee Brewers when they win game one today. For starters, they have been resting since Sunday, so all of their bullpen arms will be at full strength.
Milwaukee was also a solid home team this year, finishing 47-34. I have no problem choosing the Brewers to win Game 1 at home.
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