MILWAUKEE (AP) — Jackson Chourio tied the game in the eighth with his second home run of the evening and Garrett Mitchell delivered a two-run shot later in the inning to give the Milwaukee Brewers a 5-3 victory over the New York Mets on Wednesday, tying their NL Wild Card Series.

The teams will play a decisive Game 3 on Thursday night. The Brewers will try to become the first team to win a best-of-three Wild Card Series after losing the opener since MLB moved to this expanded playoff format in 2022.

“We talk about it every night: ‘Win tonight. Do whatever it takes,” Mitchell said. “And that’s what we did.”

Milwaukee trailed 3-2 when Chourio led off the eighth inning by homering to right-center off losing pitcher Phil Maton, making his fourth appearance on the mound in five days. The 20-year-old rookie also opened the bottom of the first inning with a drive to right against Sean Manaea, becoming the youngest player to hit a leadoff home run in the postseason.

After Blake Perkins singled and William Contreras grounded into a double play, Willy Adames kept the eighth inning going with a single. Mitchell then hit a drive just over the right-center wall, a 370-foot shot that sent the American Family Field crowd into a frenzy.

“In that situation, it’s like the moment is telling you to speed up, do more, swing for the fences, whatever you’re thinking,” Mitchell said. “For me it was just like, just attack in the zone. … Be yourself, be relaxed, pass it on to the next person. That was my mentality. I’m not trying to hit a home run there.”

He did it anyway, connecting with a curveball on the first pitch.

“Too much plate,” Maton said. “Happy with the fact that I’m going to play the first pitch curveball to get ahead. It was just one of those things that he put a good spin on. Nine times out of ten I feel like I’m getting a flyball to center field for an out. He put a good spin on it.”

New York manager Carlos Mendoza said after the game that closer Edwin Díaz was available, but the Mets did not want to use him for more than an inning.

Devin Williams retired the side in the ninth to earn the save. Joe Ross got the win after throwing 1 1/3 innings of scoreless relief.

Milwaukee was 0-26 in the postseason when trailing into the eighth inning. according to MLB.com.

Chourio is the second-youngest player to homer twice in a postseason game, behind 19-year-old Andruw Jones for Atlanta in the 1996 World Series opener at Yankee Stadium. The rookie has shown no signs of postseason pressure as he went four for eight in two games.

Now he’s taken the Brewers one win since their first postseason series win since 2018.

“It was just an incredible year,” Chourio said through a translator. “There’s not much more to say than that. It’s been an incredible year for everyone, for all the guys in that clubhouse. I think we’ve seen the fruits that came from that.”

The Mets took the lead in the second inning after a Brewers pitcher made another crucial error around first base.

With the score tied at 1-all, the Mets were one out and no one on in the second when Starling Marte hit a routine grounder to first baseman Rhys Hoskins, whose throw bounced off Frankie Montas’ glove as the right-hander went to cover the bag. .

After Montas failed to catch Hoskins’ throw, he failed to retire the next two Mets batters. Tyrone Taylor and Francisco Alvarez hit back-to-back singles, with the latter hitting Marte home. Francisco Lindor followed with a sacrifice fly that scored Taylor.

“I feel like that started everything,” Montas said of his mistake. “If I had known, there’s no one on base. That is something that absolutely cannot happen. In the postseason you have to get your outs no matter what.”

It was the second straight night the Mets rallied after a Brewers pitcher botched a play at first base. New York trailed 4-3 with two outs in the fifth inning 8-4 victory Tuesday when Joel Payamps was late reaching first base on a grounder to Hoskins, allowing Jose Iglesias to slide safely headfirst and spark a five-run outburst.

Milwaukee got one run back in the fifth when Brice Turang hit a leadoff double and scored on Perkins’ sacrifice fly. Then the Brewers pulled off the dramatic eighth-inning rally that tied the series.

Now both teams face their season on Thursday.

“Obviously, losing isn’t fun, but we’ve been responding to adversity all year,” Mets first baseman Pete Alonso said. “I’m really looking forward to this challenge tomorrow. I know they are just as excited. This is what the playoffs are about.”

NEXT

Rookie RHP Tobias Myers (9-6, 3.00 ERA) starts for Milwaukee in Game 3 against LHP Jose Quintana (10-10, 3.75).

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