Red Flag: The Mets tried to play Brewers baseball and lost
Lifting Sean Manaea early was a costly mistake by the Mets. It led to a whole lot of second-guessing. Would they have been better off getting him through the sixth and needing only three relievers instead of four? What about extending their use of Reed Garrett and Ryne Stanek to more than a dozen pitches? Phil Maton hasn’t been sharp in two straight appearances. The Mets tried to play a Brewers brand of baseball in this one and fell short.
Something that made the Mets pitching staff more reliable down the stretch was the ability of guys like Manaea to go deeper into games. A problem early on for the Mets, changing this now can have dire repercussions. There was never saving Maton from giving up a leadoff home run. Would the availability of Stanek to replace him by the time or before Garrett Mitchell came to the plate have altered things?
Playoff baseball is different from the regular season. We must acknowledge this. It’s not a game of getting as many innings from your starting pitcher as possible. It’s about draining the well. The Brewers are much better equipped to handle this because it’s basically what they’ve done all year long. Short outings by the starters with a reliance on the relievers is how they’re built. Not the Mets. They want to avoid about half of their bullpen.
The Mets stumbled into the best recipe to win during their Game 1 victory. Score enough by the middle of the game where it’s not just a battle of bullpens. A cold offense will be tough for the Mets to overcome. More impossible is beating the Brewers at their own game.