Jacob deGrom continued his Cy Young Award push with seven scoreless innings of two-hit ball, but his New York Mets were eliminated from playoff contention Wednesday night despite a 10-3 win over the visiting Miami Marlins.
Entering Wednesday, the Mets needed to win their final five games and for the Milwaukee Brewers to lose their final five games to force a one-game playoff for the final NL wild-card berth. But the Brewers scored six first-inning runs against the Cincinnati Reds and cruised to a 9-2 win that concluded as New York's Pete Alonso batted in the eighth inning.
The win by the Brewers ended an unlikely playoff push by the Mets (83-75), who had the second-worst record in the National League at the All-Star break but surged into contention by going 15-1 from July 25 through Aug. 10. But New York could never climb into possession of a wild-card spot -- it got within a half-game on Aug. 10 -- and spent the last several weeks on the fringes of contention.
Alonso and deGrom (11-8) did their parts Wednesday to ensure the Mets will at least collect some hardware following the season.
DeGrom, who won the NL Cy Young Award last year, concluded an impressive final kick by walking one and striking out seven. He allowed one run over his final 28 innings to lower his ERA to 2.43, just behind the Los Angeles Dodgers' Hyun-Jin Ryu (2.41). DeGrom leads the NL in strikeouts (255) and reached the 200-inning mark for the third straight season.
Alonso, already an ironclad lock to win the NL Rookie of the Year, hit his 51st homer, a three-run shot in the second inning. He is one homer shy of tying the all-time rookie record, set two years ago by the New York Yankees' Aaron Judge.
Jeff McNeil (double), Michael Conforto (double) and Wilson Ramos (sacrifice fly) had RBIs in the Mets' three-run first. McNeil lofted a sacrifice fly just before Alonso's second-inning homer. Amed Rosario and Brandon Nimmo had run-scoring doubles in the third, and Rajai Davis laced a pinch-hit RBI single in the seventh for a 10-0 lead.
McNeil sustained a broken right ulna when he was hit by a pitch in the sixth inning.
The Marlins (55-103) snapped the shutout bid in the ninth, when Neil Walker had an RBI single and Jorge Alfaro drilled a two-run homer, his 18th of the year.
Robert Dugger (0-4) took the loss after giving up seven runs (six earned) on six hits and two walks while striking out three over two innings.
--Field Level Media