MILWAUKEE — It is unclear if the Mets will be playing in October, but this weekend began with the club getting a good look at what an October team plays like.
The Brewers run.
They are the aggressor and await others’ mistakes.
They play defense.
They get leads and hold leads.
Their position-player group is the third-youngest in baseball and performs with the kind of daily energy you would expect from an athletic, up-and-coming club.
A Milwaukee team that is merely middle of the pack in home runs has scored the sixth-most runs in baseball.
“It’s like a football team,” Brewers manager Pat Murphy said at the start of the series. “We got to be able to beat you in more than one way.”
The Brewers have beaten the Mets in just about every way through the first two games.
They have outhit them.
They have outpitched them.
They have outfielded them.
They have stolen nine bases without getting caught (as well as advancing on the basepaths through two wild pitches and a passed ball).
Friday, they used the long ball in the first inning, when Rhys Hoskins launched a grand slam.
Saturday, they got clutch hits in the fourth against Jose Quintana before piling on in the eighth against Reed Garrett and Danny Young.
Only the Nationals have stolen more bases than the Brewers this season.
It is not just the total number of thefts but where they have come from: Ten different Brewers had swiped at least nine bases, virtually everyone is a threat.
“We’re going to run every time we’re on base,” Murphy said, his team trampling over the Mets with a 6-0 win Saturday at American Family Field.
The Mets entered play ranking 19th in throwing runners out, better since adding Luis Torrens and ditching Omar Narvaez but still not particularly strong.
If Carlos Mendoza’s group finds its way to the postseason, it would not be surprising if teams such as the Brewers exploit them on the bases.
The Brewers are locked in as the No. 3 seed in the National League and awaiting a matchup with whomever, from the Mets to the Braves to the Diamondbacks, winds up with the third wild card.
If a date with the NL Central champions felt preferable to a face-off with the No. 4 seed Padres a few days ago, perhaps Friday’s and Saturday’s game served as a reminder that the Brewers do a lot right.
Playing for nothing because their seed is guaranteed, Murphy has not used a pitcher twice and essentially pulled off a bullpen game Saturday, which presented a problem.
“Brewers are the best bullpen in the NL,” Brandon Nimmo said, correctly, after six Milwaukee pitchers held the Mets to two hits and zero runs.
Entering play Saturday, only the Guardians 2.59 bullpen ERA was better than the Brewers’ 3.16 mark.
“They’ve got elite stuff,” Mendoza said after his club walked once and struck out 11 times.
The Brewers rarely blow leads, with the second-best save percentage in the game, and they do not hand over games, which includes excellent defensive work.
Only the Royals entered play with a slightly better grade in Statcast’s Runs Prevented.
At least in the Gold Glove conversations will be Brice Turang (second base), Joey Ortiz (third base) and Sal Frelick (right field). Perhaps rookie Jackson Chourio, too, but he has split time at the corner outfield spots.
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“You have to overcome the best,” Nimmo said. “They’ve done a really good job of executing and having some clutch hits when they need them. They’re a good team. There’s a reason they won the NL Central.”
