The Mets had to wait an extra 19 hours to get Jacob deGrom on the mound at Citi Field.
They waited a few more before finally scraping together enough offense — in dramatic fashion — to avoid spoiling another one of his starts.
Jose Peraza hit a game-tying home run in the seventh inning to force an eighth inning, where Jeff McNeil delivered a walk-off, two-run single to lift the Mets to a 4-3 win over the Brewers in the first game of a doubleheader Wednesday afternoon.
The Mets (45-37) came back from three one-run deficits to clinch the series victory heading into the nightcap against the NL Central-leading Brewers (51-36), who arrived in Queens after winning 11 of 12. It marked the Mets’ seventh walk-off and 15th comeback win of the season.
“I can’t say enough about this clubhouse and how we’re in every game, one swing away,” deGrom said, after allowing two solo home runs and striking out 10 over seven strong innings. “We ended up grinding out a win today.”
After Peraza took Josh Hader deep to tie the game at two, Edwin Diaz came on to pitch the eighth inning with a ghost runner on second. He retired the first two batters he faced but then lost command, walking a pair of batters to load the bases before hitting Christian Yelich to force in the go-ahead run.
But the Mets would not be denied, rekindling some more late-inning magic in the bottom of the inning. The Brewers brought on Brent Suter to pitch, and he began by hitting Dominic Smith to put runners on first and second. James McCann then worked a nine-pitch walk to load the bases for McNeil.
McNeil, who has been mostly quiet since coming off the injured list last month, shot a single back up the middle to score Francisco Lindor and Smith, the latter beating the throw from center fielder Jackie Bradley Jr. to set off a celebration.
“It’s huge for us getting a series win over another team leading their division,” McNeil said after hist first career walk-off. “It gives us a lot of confidence. … We know we’re an extremely good team and we can beat anyone.”
The Mets’ first two wins of the series — in between Tuesday’s rainout — came against the two of the Brewers’ top three pitchers, Brandon Woodruff and Corbin Burnes. Wednesday, Burnes held the Mets to one run over 5 ²/₃ innings — an RBI single from Lindor in the first inning to tie the game at one — before Devin Williams got out of a bases-loaded rally in the sixth.
The Brewers led 2-1 at the time thanks to two home runs from Luis Urias and Jace Peterson, with deGrom retiring 13 straight batters in between. That stretch included his 1,500th career strikeout — the second-fastest pitcher to reach that threshold, one game behind Yu Darvish (197) — getting Willy Adames looking at a 100 mph fastball on the black in the fourth inning as he struck out the side.
But Peraza made sure it didn’t go to waste in the seventh, keeping alive his clutch gene off the bench. He did so against Hader, who entered the day 20-for-20 in save opportunities and had not allowed a home run this season.
“The guys just believe in themselves, everyone in each other, all the way down to the last strike or last out,” manager Luis Rojas said. “This confidence was built in spring training when these guys met. It’s just been confirmed throughout this season with different games we’ve had and different heroes we’ve had in those games.”