It's a cliche if I say that tonight was a wild night in the NL wild-card race, right? Because as lame as that sounds, this was one crazy night for the Mets and Brewers. The Mets got things started by storming back from a 6-3 deficit with a run in the seventh, two in the eighth, and one in the ninth on a walk-off Carlos Beltran single. Apparently they thought that losing the wild-card lead because Mike Hoffapauir went 5-for-5 with two homers and five RBIs was as insane of an idea as it sounds.
The Brewers, however, wouldn't be outdone tonight. Yovani Gallardo made his return after almost five months on the shelf and sparkled in four innings, strikiing out seven Pirates and only allowing one run, thus proving that cynical bloggers don't always know what they're talking about. Still, the Brewers went into the ninth inning tied with the Pirates because they couldn't figure Zach Duke out. That set the stage for Ryan Braun to hit a walk-off grand slam (the Brewers' second walk-off in three games against the Pirates) and keep pace with the Mets. Wild.
The season is a three-game season now with the Mets hosting the Marlins in what could be the last three games at Shea Stadium while the Brewers host the Cubs at Miller Park. Whichever team misses the playoffs is going to be labeled as a choker, but they were both fighting that reputation pretty hard tonight.
