10/2/24 Hometown Broadcasting Sports Wednesday
2 October 2024 Sports
Mark Vientos hit a tiebreaking, two-run single during a five-run outburst in the fifth inning as the indefatigable New York Mets continued their thrilling week by beating the Milwaukee Brewers 8-4 in an NL Wild Card Series opener Tuesday.
The Mets didn’t earn a playoff berth until they rallied late from a three-run deficit to win the opening game of a makeup doubleheader in Atlanta on Monday, one day after the regular season was supposed to end.
Now they’re a win from heading to Philadelphia for an NL Division Series.
Since Major League Baseball went to the current postseason format in 2022 that features four best-of-three Wild Card Series, the Game 1 winner has gone on to advance in each of the eight series. Only one of those eight series even made it to a winner-take-all third game.
Milwaukee has lost 10 of its last 11 playoff games, a stretch that began with its Game 7 home defeat against the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 2018 NL Championship Series.
Jesse Winker and pinch-hitter J.D. Martinez each drove in two runs for the Mets. Winker, who batted .199 with a .567 OPS for the Brewers last year before bouncing back this season, drew a chorus of boos each time he batted and appeared to exchange words with Milwaukee shortstop Willy Adames after hitting a two-run triple in the second.
Brice Turang went 3 for 4, Jackson Chourio was 2 for 4 and William Contreras had two RBIs for the Brewers. According to MLB.com, the 20-year-old Chourio was the youngest player ever to have two hits in his playoff debut.
The Mets were playing in Milwaukee just 22 hours after that Monday doubleheader in Atlanta. They clinched their spot in the postseason by scoring all their runs in the final two innings of an 8-7 victory over the Braves.
They showed a similar tenacity Tuesday.
After the Brewers took the early lead with two runs in the first inning, Mets answered by scoring three runs in the second. Once the Brewers pulled back ahead with two runs in the fourth, the Mets quickly responded again, this time with five runs in the fifth. The Brewers had just taken a 4-3 lead heading into the fifth inning when manager Pat Murphy removed Freddy Peralta, who had overcome a shaky start to retire the last nine batters he faced, and turned to a relief corps that ranked second in the majors in bullpen ERA this season.
It didn’t go well.
Starling Marte greeted Joel Payamps by hitting a drive that a leaping Chourio caught at the left-field wall, preventing at least an extra-base hit. Tyrone Taylor then doubled to left on a flyball Chourio misjudged, allowing it to go off his glove.
With two on and two outs, Jose Iglesias hit a hard grounder that first baseman Rhys Hoskins snared. But Iglesias dove headfirst and beat Payamps to the bag for an infield single, with Taylor racing all the way home from second to tie the game.
Aaron Ashby then took over for Payamps. He didn’t retire any of the five batters he faced.
After Brandon Nimmo reached on an infield single, Vientos hit a two-run single to right. Ashby threw a wild pitch and intentionally walked Pete Alonso to load the bases before Martinez, batting for Winker, delivered a two-run single to right.
The Brewers went down quietly after that. Chourio hit an RBI single in the fourth, but Mets pitchers retired the next 17 batters to end the game.
Mets starter Luis Severino recovered nicely from a shaky start. He allowed eight hits and four runs — three earned — in six innings. José Buttó threw two perfect innings and Ryne Stanek retired the side in order in the ninth.
LHP Sean Manaea (12-6, 3.47 ERA) starts for the Mets in Game 2, five days after he allowed six runs (five earned) over 3 2/3 innings in an 8-4 loss at Milwaukee. Frankie Montas (7-11, 4.84) will pitch for Milwaukee. First pitch is at 6:38 from American Family Field.
In the other NL Wild Card game the Padres shutout the Braves 4-0
In the American League Wild Card games, the Tigers beat the Astros 3-1 and the Royals shutout the Orioles 1-0.
The Packers return to the practice field today to get ready for Sunday’s game in Los Angeles against the Rams. Green Bay (2-2) is coming off a 31-29 home loss to the Minnesota Vikings (4-0). This will be the fourth straight year they face off in the regular season, and the Packers have won each of the previous three meetings.
The Rams (1-3) lost at Soldier Field 24-18 to the Bears Sunday.
On the injury front, wide receiver Christian Walker and defensive tackle Devonte Wyatt left with ankle injuries. Coach Matt LaFleur said Monday that “I would assume (Watson) would be probably be out most likely at least a week or so.”
The Las Vegas Raiders have informed other NFL teams they would “consider” trading three-time All-Pro receiver Davante Adams for a package that would include a second-round draft pick and additional compensation, league sources told ESPN’s Adam Schefter on Tuesday.
Adams, acquired by the Raiders in a blockbuster trade with the Green Bay Packers for first- and second-round draft picks on March 17, 2022, missed his first game as a member of the Raiders on Sunday with a hamstring injury suffered in practice on Thursday.
He was on the sidelines for the Raiders’ 20-16 win over the Cleveland Browns and celebrated fellow receiver DJ Turner’s ‘s first career touchdown.
Giannis Antetokounmpo’s blunt response to a question about whether the Milwaukee Bucks’ off season moves could get them back to the conference finals or NBA Finals underscored how far they’ve fallen the last couple of years.
“We’ve got to get out of the first round,” the two-time MVP said during the Bucks’ Media Day event Monday. “Let’s start with that.”
The Bucks captured an NBA title in 2021 but have won just one playoff series in the three years since. They’re coming off a tumultuous 2022-23 season that included acquiring star guard Damian Lillard just before training camp, firing coach Adrian Griffin at midseason, losing Antetokounmpo for the playoffs due to a calf injury and falling to the Indiana Pacers in the opening round of the playoffs.
Now that Antetokounmpo’s had a year to adjust to playing alongside Lillard, the Bucks believe they can reassert themselves as championship contenders. Lillard, a seven-time all-NBA guard who didn’t receive a single all-NBA vote last season, said he feels “way, way better” going into this season.
“I do know that my teammates and my coaches, they’re going to get the real version of me this year,” Lillard said.
The Bucks added veteran free agents Taurean Prince, Delon Wright and Gary Trent Jr. to boost their depth. They also are healthy again, for the most part, as they prepare to begin training camp.
Khris Middleton, who has been limited to a total of 88 regular-season games over the last two seasons due to a variety of injuries, said he’s feeling better after undergoing surgeries on both of his ankles. Rivers said Middleton will participate in camp but won’t be doing a lot of live action early on.
“I will be on the court as much as possible during this week, so we won’t be playing catch-up as much,” Middleton said.
The Bucks’ desire to improve their cohesiveness after a season of upheaval was reflected in their decision to leave town and hold their training camp at Irvine, California.
Rivers said he was just 10 days into his Bucks coaching tenure when he decided the team would be better off getting away for training camp and having more time to eat, work and travel together.
“No families, no friends around,” Rivers said. “Just us. I think that’s good for our team.”
The chemistry should be better this year in part because Antetokounmpo and Lillard have spent the last year getting to know each other as teammates. They’re discovering how they can bring out the best in each other and produce the most team success.
Antetokounmpo acknowledged that figuring out how each of them should adapt can be tricky because each of them had played so long and had enjoyed so much success before they were teammates. Antetokounmpo turns 30 in December, while Lillard is 34.
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