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MILWAUKEE — After three games in two cities over two days behind almost too many comebacks to count, the New York Mets suddenly find themselves one game away from the National League Division Series.

The Mets overcame two early deficits in the first game of their wild-card series against the Brewers on Tuesday, stringing hits, walks and hit batters into a three-run second inning and a five-run fifth, and now have NL Central champion Milwaukee on the ropes after an 8-4 win.

“It’s hard to be tired when you’re playing playoff baseball,” third baseman Mark Vientos said. “I had a bunch of energy. I know all of us did. We were all excited, and we got the job done.”

All of this came about 24 hours after New York completed its regular season with a doubleheader in Atlanta that featured the Mets’ thrilling come-from-behind, 8-7 win in Game 1, thanks to Francisco Lindor‘s dramatic go-ahead two-run homer in the ninth.

After losing the second game in Atlanta, the Mets indulged in a postgame celebration in the visiting clubhouse at SunTrust Park, took a flight to Milwaukee and by midday Tuesday were filtering into American Family Field. It just sounds exhausting, and when the Brewers grabbed a quick 2-0 lead in the first inning, few would have been surprised if the contest turned into a runaway.

Well, few outside of the Mets’ dugout would, because resilience has become perhaps the defining trait of the 2024 Mets.

“It’s a playoff game,” Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said. “Everybody’s tired. But once you play ball, you’ve got to go.”

The key blow during New York’s three-run second was Jesse Winker‘s two-run triple into the right-field corner, struck after the Milwaukee crowd booed Winker with vigor as he approached the plate.

Video from the broadcast captured Winker exchanging not-so-pleasantries with Brewers shortstop Willy Adames, his teammate in Milwaukee just last season, after Winker slid into third base. What was that all about? Winker wasn’t saying.

“I don’t really want to speak on it,” Winker said after pausing to consider the question. “I just want to focus on the game tomorrow.”

Perhaps Winker was just tired. You couldn’t blame him, but the veteran, picked up midseason by the Mets, has seen his team respond to adversity too many times not to chip in.

“I just feel like it’s the story of this team,” Winker said. “There’s been a bunch of things thrown at this team, and [we’re] just responding. It’s go time. You’re in the playoffs.”

After the long day in Atlanta a day earlier, the Mets’ bullpen plan was delicate, and that might have worked to New York’s advantage in the end. Because while Luis Severino struggled during the early innings, Mendoza stuck with him because he didn’t want to dip into his reliever corps too early. Severino found his footing and ended up giving the Mets six innings, giving up four runs and earning the win.

“The bullpen appreciated that,” Severino said. “When they came back to the dugout, they were really happy about me getting those six innings, coming back at there and trying to grind through that outing.”

On the other side, the well-rested Brewers pulled their top starter, Freddy Peralta, after only four innings and 68 pitches. Peralta gave up three runs, so the Brewers decided to start their parade of relievers early in the tradition of so many postseason games of this era.

Alas, the relievers who replaced Peralta — Joel Payamps and Aaron Ashby — gave up five runs between them during a two-out New York rally in the fifth, closing out the scoring. Ashby failed to retire any of the five batters he faced.

“[Peralta] is probably 18 pitches from where his limit is,” Brewers manager Pat Murphy said. “We take the lead in the game. We’ve got a full bullpen. It’s a playoff game. We’d like to get him to five because of our bullpen usage over the week, [but] you don’t do that. You’re playing to win tonight.”

Perhaps Peralta wouldn’t have caught his stride as Severino did, and maybe it wouldn’t have mattered because these Mets, who were 11 games under .500 in early June, are riding a wave that shows no signs of cresting.

“Yeah, we went back to Atlanta, played a doubleheader, came back here,” Mendoza said. “But nobody cares. We were ready to go. It showed. We’ve got to be ready to do it again tomorrow.”

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Sources: Tkachuk dodges discipline, will play G4

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Sources: Tkachuk dodges discipline, will play G4

Florida Panthers forward Matthew Tkachuk will not receive supplemental discipline for his hit on Tampa Bay Lightning forward Jake Geuntzel in Game 3, sources told ESPN on Sunday.

Tkachuk’s hit, in the third period of his team’s 5-1 loss, received a five-minute major. According to sources, the NHL Department of Player Safety determined that was enough, considering Guentzel had recently touched the puck and Tkachuk didn’t make contact with Guentzel’s head.

The department also believed that the force in which Tkachuk hit Guentzel was far lesser than the hit Tampa’s Brandon Hagel made on Florida captain Aleksander Barkov in Game 2, which earned Hagel a one game suspension.

The plays led both coaches to trade jabs in the media. After Barkov went down in Game 2, Florida Panthers coach Paul Maurice said: “The only players we hit are the one with pucks.”

Barkov missed the end of the third period, but played in Game 3. Game 4 is Monday at Amerant Bank Arena.

At his postgame press conference, following Tkachuk’s hit on Guentzel, Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper deadpanned the exact same line as Maurice.

Tkachuk leads the series in scoring with three goals and an assist through three games. Guentzel has two goals and two assists for Tampa Bay.

The Battle of Florida is living up to the billing as one of the most contentious rivalries in hockey; either Tampa or Florida has made it to the Stanley Cup Final in each of the last five seasons.

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Jets’ Hellebuyck allows five goals, pulled again

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Jets' Hellebuyck allows five goals, pulled again

ST. LOUIS — Connor Hellebuyck, a two-time Vezina Trophy winner who is among the favorites to win the award again this season, allowed five goals before being pulled early in the third period as the top-seeded Winnipeg Jets fell to the St. Louis Blues 5-1 on Sunday, evening their Western Conference first-round series at 2-2.

Hellebuyck has now been pulled in back-to-back games in St. Louis, during which he has allowed 11 goals and posted a paltry .744 save percentage. Eric Comrie made five saves in relief of Hellebuyck on Sunday, but the game had long been decided by that point.

His performances have not only energized the Blues, the No. 8 seed who lost the first two games of this series, but their fans, as well. In the third period Sunday, the St. Louis faithful chanted, “We want Connor” as he sat on the Jets’ bench.

Brayden Schenn, Tyler Tucker and Justin Faulk each scored second-period goals to give the Blues a 4-1 lead, and Robert Thomas scored 2:01 into the third, ending Hellebuyck’s day.

Across the ice, St. Louis goaltender Jordan Binnington, who defeated Hellebuyck in the 4 Nations Face-Off final in February when Canada outlasted Team USA, made 30 saves in the win. The Blues have now won 14 straight regular-season and playoff games at home dating back to Feb. 23.

“The last 10 minutes, we gave up three goals,” Winnipeg coach Scott Arniel said of the second period. “Those are coverage goals, and those are situations that we usually handle pretty well. They are finding ways to get that puck in the net.”

Kyle Connor scored for the Jets, staking the road team to a 1-0 lead, but the powerful Winnipeg offense that helped the club win the Presidents’ Trophy was never heard from again.

“This is obviously not what we wanted,” Winnipeg forward Mark Scheifele said. “But it’s a best two-of-three series now.”

Hellebuyck has been pulled in consecutive games only one other time in his career, and given the Jets lost in Round 1 last season to the Colorado Avalanche, the Winnipeg goaltending situation figures to be a storyline the rest of this series.

“At the end of the day, you know what, they took advantage of home ice,” Arniel said of the Blues. “We’ve put ourselves in this position. And our best players have to be better than their best players.”

The Jets and Blues return to Winnipeg for Game 5 on Wednesday night.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Williams out as Yanks’ closer; Weaver to get a shot

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Williams out as Yanks' closer; Weaver to get a shot

NEW YORK — Devin Williams has been removed from his role as New York Yankees closer “for right now,” manager Aaron Boone said Sunday.

The move comes two days after Williams endured another rough outing and was booed off the mound at Yankee Stadium in a loss to the Toronto Blue Jays. The 30-year-old right-hander has a 11.25 ERA with career-worst marks in strikeout rate (18.2%), whiff rate (24.1%) and walk rate (15.9%) in eight innings across 10 appearances this season.

“He’s still got everything to be great, right? This is a guy that is in the prime of his career and he’s just going through it a little bit,” said Boone, who informed Williams of the decision Saturday. “I tell our players all the time, you make a career that’s long enough and you’re going to face some challenging moments. You’re going to face some adversity along the way. And good news for Devin is he’s got everything to get through this and come out better on the other side. And that’s my expectation.

“But, for right now, I think it’s best for everyone that we pull him out of that role and try and start building some good rhythm and confidence and momentum and fully expect him to be a central figure for us moving forward.”

Boone said setup man Luke Weaver, who has a 0.00 ERA in 13 innings pitched this season, will assume “a lot of” the team’s save opportunities. Boone maintained he is open to using Weaver in high-leverage spots earlier in games and other relievers to close.

As for Williams, Boone said he won’t have a specific role — whether pitching in low-leverage situations or tight spots just earlier in games — as he seeks to re-establish himself for a team with the ninth-best bullpen ERA in the majors despite his struggles.

The key will be for Williams to avoid falling behind in counts as he did against the three hitters he faced Friday, leading to the home crowd again showering him with loud boos while adding a “We want Weaver!” chant.

Williams wound up surrendering two runs on three hits without recording an out to blow the save and continue his alarming troubles.

The Yankees hope his changeup-fastball mix will baffle hitters again and allow him to return to the pitcher he has been for his entire career.

“Count leverage is a big thing for pitchers, understandably, as it is for hitters,” Boone said. “And I think he’s been behind a number of times. He’s also had it not bounce his way in a number of these games where it’s gotten away.

“But I think the biggest thing for a guy as good as he is, as good as his track record is, and where he is from an age standpoint in the prime of his career, it’s just about, I think, man, having it start to click, getting in a good rhythm and then off we go.”

The Yankees acquired Williams in December to replace Clay Holmes as the club’s closer with one year of team control remaining before reaching free agency. The trade, which sent left-hander Nestor Cortes and prospect Corbin Durbin to Milwaukee, figured to cement the Yankees’ bullpen as one of the best in the majors.

Williams established himself as one of baseball’s premier relievers over six seasons with the Brewers using a singular screwball-like changeup known as “The Airbender.” The right-hander posted a 1.83 ERA with a 39.4% across 241 appearances in Milwaukee. He won the 2020 National League Rookie of the Year Award as a setup man for Josh Hader and made two All-Star teams. His status was undisputed.

But Williams’ Yankees tenure has been turbulent from start. After emerging as the catalyst to have the Yankees’ decades-long no-beard policy changed during spring training, he was booed at Yankee Stadium during his sloppy debut on Opening Day against his former club.

Boone acknowledged the fans’ treatment could have an impact on Williams’ performance.

“I think there’s that adjustment,” Boone said. “Devin’s really been nothing but successful at the big-league level. He’s dominated. So, that’s all part of it. That’s what I talk to these guys all the time about is like, again, you’re going to go through a tough moment. When I came here in 2003 at the trade deadline, Mariano Rivera was getting booed in August. I couldn’t believe it. And then he’s still Mariano Rivera, recoups and goes on to do what he does.

“So, I’m sure there’s some shock to that and some … getting settled. He’s with a new team in a new environment. That’s all part of it. But my reminder to him is you have all the equipment to do this at an elite level and that’s still a reality.”

In other developments, Luis Gil, the reigning AL Rookie of the Year Award winner, started his throwing program Sunday. He has been sidelined since Feb. 28 because of a high-grade lat strain, is on the 60-day injured list and is projected to return in June at the earliest.

Also, right-hander Jonathan Loáisiga, who is returning from internal brace elbow surgery, started his rehab assignment for Class A Tampa on Saturday and threw 11 pitches with one strikeout in a clean inning. He could rejoin the Yankees as early as late May.

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