MILWAUKEE — It's unclear whether the Mets will play in October, but this weekend started with the club getting a good look at how the team will play in October.
Brewers run.
They are aggressors and wait for other people's mistakes.
They play defense.
They generate leads and retain leads.
Their group of position players is the third-youngest in baseball, and they display the kind of energy you'd expect from an athletic, up-and-coming club on a daily basis.
A Milwaukee team that was only middling in home runs entered Saturday's game tied with the Orioles for fifth-most RBIs in baseball history.
“It's like a football team,” Brewers coach Pat Murphy said Friday. “We have to be able to defeat you in multiple ways.”
The Brewers defeated the Mets in almost every way in the series opener Friday at American Family Field. They used a long ball when Reece Hoskins hit a grand slam in the first inning.
They ran all over the Mets, recording six stolen bases without being caught, and advanced three more times on two wild pitches and one passed ball.
Only the Nationals have stolen more bases this season than the Brewers. It's not just the total number of thefts, it's where the thefts are coming from. Entering Saturday, 10 different Brewers had stolen at least nine bases, and virtually all were a threat.
“I'm definitely going to run when I get on base,” Murphy said before taking advantage of Francisco Alvarez and the Mets' pitching staff, who were too slow to get to the plate.
The Mets rank 19th in sending runners out, and while they've gotten better since adding Luis Torrence and dumping Omar Narvaez, they're still not particularly strong.
If Carlos Mendoza's group can make it to the postseason, it wouldn't be surprising to see a team like the Brewers utilize them on the bases.
The Brewers are locked in as the National League's No. 3 seed, waiting to face a team from the Mets to the Braves to the Diamondbacks who earn the third wild card.
If you felt a few days ago that a matchup against the National League Central champions would be preferable to a matchup with the fourth-seeded Padres, perhaps Friday's game will remind you that the Brewers are doing a lot of things right. It might have reminded you.
Murphy, who is playing for free because his seeding is guaranteed, indicated that he would not use a relief pitcher on consecutive days.
After Frankie Montas lasted just four innings (though the Brewers' rotation is simply OK), Murphy transitioned into the second-best bullpen in baseball and didn't even bother using Devin Williams' best arm. I didn't.
Joe Ross, Hobie Milner, and Trevor Megill shut out Mets batters over the final five innings, lowering the group's ERA to 3.16.
Only the Guardians' ERA of 2.59 was better.
The Brewers rarely give up the lead, have the second-best save percentage in the game, and don't give the game away, including their excellent defense.
The Royals were the only team that entered the game with a slightly better score in terms of defensive points allowed by Statcast.
At the very least, Bryce Turan (second baseman), Joey Ortiz (third baseman), and Sal Frelich (right fielder) will be mentioned in the Gold Glove conversation.
Likely rookie Jackson Chourio, who is seeing split time at the corner outfield spot.
“We have a lot of young energy. Young energy that loves to play,” Murphy said. “We're a really good base running team. We're a really good defensive team. … We've got to do a lot of things. Not everyone can do these things, but we put all our eggs in one. You can't put it in your cart.”
