Cool Hand Lucroy

Yeah, and the risk of this feeling is also why we love them.

Great post. That's what's great about this game. It always delivers something. I was literally too nervous to even watch the 8th and 9th innings, but that feeling of being utterly wrapped in something you can't control matters. It's meaningful and worthwhile. I don't have the words to describe how, but there isn't another feeling like it.

Went back and watched the top of the ninth after skipping it. The walk to Lindor, no excuse. I also thought Devin should have gone fastball to Nimmo after getting up 0-2. Alonso's was kind of a wall-scraper, but a terribly located changeup just floating there. Honestly? We played a pretty damn good baseball game. Didn't hit with RISP. Pitched great. Got the ball into our best guy's hands, and he was poor. What are you gonna do? Baseball is the best mirror of life I know. You fail a lot. You hope you don't, but you can't outrun it forever. Sometimes, the end is sudden, sometimes it's slow, but it shows up and you have to deal with it. We will. Proud of this team and had more fun watching it than the last four or five editions. Here's to more team speed and more NL Central titles. We won the grind. The sprint is mostly just a lie (even though we want to believe it).

I'd say I'd have no heart left, but if we find ourselves in this spot next year, I'll be feeling the same. We'll always have the Chuorio game (and the many more to follow)! I don't know quite know how to feel. On the one hand, what a season. On the other, what an awful ending. It feels worse when you feel like you have something to lose. But, well, it always hurts to end it. Glad to be here with you all all year. Baseball is never about the end. It goes round and round. Learn from it, and we'll be back.

I took a looooooooooong walk after the bottom of the 7th. Checked Gameday a few times. It feels better when you don't have to watch it. We got three outs left. Mets probably bring in Stanek? This has been a really exciting baseball game if you're a neutral. It's been evil if you're a Brewer fan.

Hoskins has seen a TON of Quintana. I posted the numbers earlier. The six walks made my eyes bug out. Hopefully he is patient and hits it in the air. Like everyone, I have no idea what happens tonight. Deep down, my hope is immense, but not enough to outweigh my self-protective instinct to mentally prepare for the end tonight. Last night was a beautiful thing. I'm so glad we all got that moment. All I can do is hope for one more tonight, hopefully with a little (or a lot) less drama. Here's my only ask: If this team goes down, may it be because the Mets were just better. No errors. No outsized luck. Let's give it our cleanest game and make every AB tough and the results will be the results. Rickie, if you can, conjour the ghost of Tony Plush, and let's get movin' on!

SSS, as always, but my subjective fears of Quintana from 2018 definitely contrast with the numerical reality. He failed to get through 5 (though only giving up 2 runs each time) in a couple of starts against us this year, including in his last start. Both Mets losses. Here's the batter/pitcher breakdown. Willy and William with good career numbers. Hoskins low BA, but a HR and SIX walks. EDIT: Point is, I'm terrified because it's an elimination game. Anything can happen. But Quintana is not a bad draw as far as these things go. Mets will surely think the same about Tobias. Been a high-scoring series relative to the playoffs. Over/Under is 7.5. I'd definitely expect it to take at least four to win, but this stuff is not really predictable. Pitcher AB H 2B 3B HR RBI BB K AVG OBP SLG OPS Willy Adames 14 5 2 0 1 2 1 3 .357 .400 .714 1.114 Jake Bauers 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1.000 1.000 1.000 2.000 Jackson Chourio 5 3 1 0 0 0 1 1 .600 .667 .800 1.467 Isaac Collins 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 1.000 1.000 1.000 2.000 William Contreras 8 3 1 0 1 2 0 4 .375 .333 .875 1.208 Eric Haase 2 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 .500 .500 .500 1.000 Rhys Hoskins 15 3 0 0 1 2 6 3 .200 .429 .400 .829 Garrett Mitchell 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 .000 .000 .000 .000 Andruw Monasterio 3 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 .000 .250 .000 .250 Joey Ortiz 4 2 0 0 0 2 0 2 .500 .500 .500 1.000 Blake Perkins 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 .500 .500 .500 1.000 Joe Ross 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000 .000 Gary Sanchez 7 0 0 0 0 0 1 3 .000 .125 .000 .125 Totals 66 20 4 0 3 9 11 20 .303 .403 .500 .903

Koenig threw 7 pitches. Ross threw 12. Devin threw 10. All those guys, plus Ashby, should be good for two innings as needed. Maybe you're more careful with Ross since he's not used to the role. Devin only having like 25 innings means this is the time to push. Between that and Myers, plus Megill, who threw 22 pitches but should have at least an out or two in him, it should give you enough. On the Mets side, Stanek has thrown a lot. Butto should be available after a day off. Diaz has had two days off, but still threw 66 pitches over the last four days. Matton obviously gave it up tonight. They've got more fresh arms in Ottavino, Brazoban, Peterson, and Young. Plus Garrett who only threw one tonight. The question is how much they trust them. Ottavino and Brazoban seem to be low on the list. I'd bet you see shortish leash for Quintana, hope he gets through 4 or 5 two times through, and then you book Diaz for an inning plus (maybe two) on the back end. In between, it'll be matchups, matchups, matchups.

Padres win. 6:08 it is.

I think we get something very similar to today. The only change I'd contemplate is Mitchell for Sal. One thing I'm really curious about is whether our approach changes with Quintana. I know there was frustration with the lack of walks (and for some good reasons), but it seemed obvious to me that attacking early in the count was a plan for the Crew these first two games. Quintana is a different kind of pitcher, so we'll see if we see more of those grinding ABs.

Lol. I committed to volunteering at my kid's school from 2:45-3:30 tomorrow. Here's hoping the Padres hang on.

Just regarding luck in the playoffs: Mitchell smoked that ball, but a little lower and it's MAYBE an RBI double. Or maybe not. Pete Alonso tripping on a bat in the first might have been a huge play. You just never know the weird things that turn these crazy games.

By the way, if Jackson wants to get on a full Arozarena, I'd be down with that.

Perkins is my underrated hero of the night. He needs to start tomorrow (and probably will against Quintana, who terrifies me from the Cubs days). Devin being efficient means he should be good to go for 30 pitches. Two innings if you have to. Megill and Payamps get credit for putting up some big zeroes. Koenig and Ross too. Props to the bullpen. You'll be needed again tomorrow. I'll be staying away from the game thread again, at least until after the game. My biggest hope is twofold: 1) That the Mets start to feel the pressure a little. AND 2) More importantly, that we play loose. The Mets were the more relaxed team in Game 1 and early on today. We need to cut out the silly mistakes. Play good defense! Get more aggressive on the base paths. Speed and assertiveness are who we are. Let's be ourselves and at least go out on our terms if that's what's in the cards. I know it's tough against the lefties, but I want to see more SB attempts and more speed on display. This one feels good.

Murph said it'll be Tobias.

Loving this Royals team. They've been my second-favorite since the early LoCain days, and it's great to see Salvy having such a great year. I like the Orioles too. Baltimore's had a hard enough time as a city, it's tough to want bad things for them. Safe to say I'll be rooting for whoever wins this against the Yankees. Royals are closest thing to small-market solidarity, though, and Bobby Witt has been awesome today. Legging out hits and making key defensive plays. Fun team.

I missed the Mets! Never happened in the AL. I think 2020 was such a different format (16 team tournament) that I start at 2022. Well, then, let's hope the Crew are the first team to win the SERIES after falling behind 1-0. It's going to happen someday.

Astros on the verge of losing. Still no series has gone to third game in now the third year of this format. We will see if a miracle Houston comeback or a Baltimore awakening changes that. If not, the Brewers will have to lose their seventh game in a row to make it nine straight elimination game losses for the team that loses Game 1. That's my way of being optimistic. Two unlikely things will need to happen for us to lose tonight!!! In all seriousness, let's get this done and play one more game. Go Brewers!

Not going to disagree with your perspective because I get it. If WS championships are the measuring stick for a successful organization, this isn't one. It's just not my measuring stick because, if it were, this would be a miserable experience. The Brewers have been around for 55 years? What are the odds a team wins a WS entering the season? 2% for the Brewers? Some years a little higher? Some years lower? At 3 percent, you'd expect to win 1 in every 33 years, but it wouldn't be at all unusual to not see one for 100 years or more, especially if you simulate seasons out to huge sample sizes. That's how variance works. At 2 percent, you'd expect one WS every 50 years. I'll say this, having been around for the mid-90s and early 2000s, those teams were probably clocking under 2 percent.... Point is, it's really not that weird to not have a WS. We're not the only team that doesn't! I understand the emotional truth of "you'd think we'd have won one!" (I feel it too), but it doesn't line up with the mathematical truth, even for the best-run team in baseball, especially in a sport with an unequal economic structure.

I probably won't be checking on this game thread until after tomorrow's game. I have a good sense of how it'll play out either way. If we win, I'll stay away Thursday too :) Hopefully I'll be back celebrating on Friday. If not, that's baseball. Here's what I think: This is a good team that is having a GREAT season. Nothing's going to change that. This is the best-run organization in baseball. If you want to use postseason results as a way to denigrate the "bites at the apple" philosophy, I won't stop you. People do what they need to do to feel better about frustrating stuff, especially frustrating stuff they cannot control. For me, though, what we are experiencing is what the playoffs are. We just feel it more because we're there EVERY year now. How would you feel about being a Mariners fan? Or a Pirates fan? A Reds fan? Even a Rays or A's fan? You can't feel this stuff if you're not there to feel it, and most teams aren't. The moneyball A's weren't chokers. The 2004 White Sox weren't this perfectly magical team. Neither were the 2019 Nats. Those great Braves teams of the 90s lost A LOT of postseason series. All of which is to say, I prefer to keep my pain and frustration and hope (and it's really the hope that kills you) to these single-game drama factories. It's enough not to be able to control one result. Attempting to use that result as a window into the soul of the franchise would break me. This is still a fun team. We get to spend at least one more night with them. I'll be sad whenever and however it ends, but I wouldn't trade the Brewers for any other baseball team right now, and that's not just because of Wisconsin DNA.

Well, the Mets probably couldn't have drawn it up any better. The Brewers are competitive enough to use Payamps and Ashby for high-stress, poor-performance innings, but, ultimately, the Mets throw a guy with a 5 ERA to seal a 4-run win in the ninth. Buto pitches two smooth innings, but otherwise you avoid all high-leverage relievers. They're definitely big favorites at this point, but what I love about the playoffs is they'll feel like the underdogs should they lose tomorrow. Let's put that feeling on them.

Alright, here's a trend that can't go on forever: No Wild Card Series has ever gone three games. Obviously, that means no one has ever won after dropping game one. Why not us?* *I still have hope for today. That's the beauty of baseball.

We've got to put a little pressure on this pen. The advantage of facing these guys has nothing to do with hitting or travel. It has everything to do with bullpen. I'll might be more frustrated with that if we go quietly than at that disastrous defensive 5th inning.

One of the weird things about human psychology is we think the way things are going is the way things will continue to go. That's just not the case. Those who can predict those turnarounds make bank, but continually betting WITH the trendline is what costs $$$ long-term. That's as true in baseball as it is in poker and the stock market. We're all so emotionally invested in this thing we can't control. That's part of what makes it fun! And, believe me, I feel everyone's frustration deeply. I'm coping by being weirdly philosophical on a message board. I guess what I'm saying is: the pain is what it is, but it's not a portent of the future. We all detach from the pain in our own way, but today has no impact on tomorrow. Let's get some runs and remind ourselves why we're here.

I just don't think there was any way Adames was getting an out on that no matter what. Maybe I'm wrong. I don't have the split screen and didn't see how close the runner was to second. That just looked like an infield hit all the way.