After the other three MLB wild-card series ended in sweeps, all eyes were on Milwaukee, where the New York Mets eliminated the Milwaukee Brewers in a thrilling Game 3. The Mets get a National League Division Series date with the rival Philadelphia Phillies — and the Brewers’ season ends in heartbreaking fashion.

How did it all go down? We’ve got you covered with live updates and analysis as the game was played, followed by our takeaways after the final pitch.

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Takeaways

There is something about these Mets. From flipping a slow start in the regular season to the remarkable comeback win in Atlanta on Monday, New York has made resiliency its defining trait. And yet that barely describes what we saw Thursday when the Mets stunned a ready-to-celebrate opponent in the ninth inning for the second time in four days.

This time it was Pete Alonso doing the honors, hammering a misplaced Devin Williams changeup at 105 miles per hour and over the right-field fence for a stunning three-run homer. It could have been Alonso’s last at-bat as a Met. Instead, it became an emphatic argument for why they should pull out all the stops to keep him.

The Mets move on to face the Phillies. In each of the past two postseasons, the Phillies advanced out of the wild-card round and rolled through the division series, beating the Braves in four games both times. Now it’s their turn to deal with a layoff, and they will go against a New York team riding the momentum of winning the past two of a tense three-game wild-card series. In other words, for the Phillies the shoe is on the other foot. — Bradford Doolittle

Live updates

MILWAUKEE — Pete Alonso hit a go-ahead, three-run homer off closer Devin Williams in the ninth inning and the New York Mets beat the Milwaukee Brewers 4-2 on Thursday night to win their NL Wild Card Series.

With their latest thrilling comeback in the decisive Game 3 against Milwaukee, the Mets advanced in the playoffs for the first time since winning the 2015 National League pennant. They move on to a best-of-five division series beginning Saturday in Philadelphia against the NL East champion Phillies.

It will be the first postseason meeting between the longtime rivals.

“This has been unreal. What a ride,” Alonso said. “I’m just excited to help keep this team alive.”

New York went 6-7 against the Phillies during the regular season and finished six games behind them in the division standings. The 1,081 all-time meetings between the Mets and Phillies are the most between any two franchises without a playoff matchup since 1962, according to ESPN Stats & Information.

The Brewers, making their sixth playoff appearance in the last seven years, still haven’t won a postseason series since reaching Game 7 of the NL Championship Series in 2018.

This series loss will be particularly painful.

Milwaukee appeared to have the victory in hand after Jake Bauers and Sal Frelick broke a scoreless tie by opening the seventh inning with back-to-back homers off José Buttó. Tobias Myers and three relievers had combined on a two-hit shutout through the first eight innings.

Twelve straight Mets had been retired when they opened the ninth against Williams, a two-time NL reliever of the year who had earned the save Wednesday in Milwaukee’s Game 2 victory.

But he wasn’t his normal self on this night.

Francisco Lindor opened the ninth by walking on a 3-2 pitch outside. After Mark Vientos struck out, Brandon Nimmo singled to put runners at the corners.

That brought up Alonso, who has 226 career homers in six seasons but hadn’t gone deep since Sept. 19.

After getting ahead 3-1 in the count, Alonso sent a 3-1 changeup over the wall in right field. He put his fingers to his mouth in a “chef’s kiss” gesture as he rounded first and gave the Mets the lead.

Alonso can become a free agent after the World Series, so it could have been his final plate appearance with the only professional franchise he’s played for if the Mets fell short. Instead, he sent them on to the next round with the biggest home run of his career.

The slugger became the first major league player to hit a go-ahead homer while trailing in the ninth inning or later of a winner-take-all postseason game, according to ESPN Stats & Information.

“This is something that you practice as a kid in the backyard,” Alonso said.

Williams remained in the game but never regained his footing. Jesse Winker was hit by a pitch with two outs, stole second and scored an insurance run on Starling Marte’s single to right. Winker, a former Brewer who was showered with boos throughout the series, screamed and slammed his helmet to the ground after sliding across the plate.

The ninth-inning comeback continued New York’s storybook season. The Mets were 22-33 in late May but played as well as anyone in baseball the rest of the regular season. They didn’t clinch a playoff berth until they scored all their runs in the final two innings of an 8-7 victory over Atlanta in the opening game of a doubleheader Monday, the day after the regular season was supposed to end.

Frelick led off the bottom of the ninth with a single, but Joey Ortiz struck out and Brice Turang hit into a double play to end the series.

Edwin Díaz pitched 1 2/3 innings of scoreless relief to earn the win. David Peterson, making his first relief appearance of the season, worked the ninth to pick up his first major league save.

The game started out as a pitchers’ duel between Myers and New York’s Jose Quintana. Myers pitched five shutout innings, while Quintana held the Brewers scoreless through six.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.

Future Hall of Fame manager Terry Francona will come out of retirement to manage the Cincinnati Reds, agreeing to a deal with the team one year to the day after retiring following 23 seasons, sources told ESPN on Thursday.

The 65-year-old Francona takes over a young, talented Reds team a year after leaving the Cleveland Guardians, whom he had managed the previous 11 seasons. Francona won nearly 55% of his games with Cleveland after capturing two World Series managing the Boston Red Sox, including the 2004 campaign that snapped an 86-year title drought.

Concerns about Francona’s health in recent years caused him to miss time and led to questions of whether he wanted to continue managing despite the success. When Francona stepped down from the Guardians on Oct. 3, 2023, he said: “I need to go home and get healthy and see what I miss about the game. I don’t foresee managing again.”

On Oct. 3, 2024, he pledged to return on the opposite side of the state with a team that underachieved this season. After a surprising 82-80 finish in 2023, the Reds weathered injuries to finish 77-85. They fired manager David Bell less than a year after giving him a contract extension and will hand the reins of a high-upside group over to Francona, whose hiring was first reported by MLB.com.

Shortstop Elly De La Cruz is a 22-year-old star, and with Matt McLain expected back next season and a young position-player group that includes Spencer Steer, Tyler Stephenson, Jonathan India, Noelvi Marte and Christian Encarnacion-Strand, there is plenty of potential for the Reds’ lineup. The same goes for a pitching staff headlined by Hunter Greene and complemented with Andrew Abbott, Nick Lodolo and rookie Rhett Lowder.

With 1,950 wins in his career, including 285 in his first job in Philadelphia more than a quarter-century ago, Francona is likely to pass Leo Durocher for 12th on the all-time list for managers with his 2,009th win. If the Reds have the sort of season they hope Francona will help provide, he could surge past Walter Alston, who is 11th with 2,040 victories.

An announcement of Francona’s hiring could happen as soon as this week.