Game One loss to Mets has Brewers on verge of familiar playoff end

As we previously stated not so long ago, the Milwaukee Brewers got the easy part out of the way this year: making the 2024 MLB Playoffs. Now, it's time to set their sights on the hard part, which is scraping together a deep run and earning that first-ever World Series ring.

On Tuesday night, the Brewers faced off against the New York Mets and even though things started off on the right foot, the box score will tell you that the Mets answered every single time the Brewers took the lead. This led to an 8-4 Mets victory.

Simply put: the Metropolitans were the better baseball team on Tuesday, and the Brewers now have their backs against the wall. From Freddy Peralta being pulled with just six shutout innings under his belt, to Willy Adames and former Brewer Jesse Winker vowing to fight in the parking lot after the game, this was not the best showing from Milwaukee.

A loss on Wednesday evening would result in a sudden elimination and end of the season for the Brewers. This is a club that won 93 regular-season games (four more than the Mets), but one that could be packing their things and heading home by this time tomorrow.

The Brewers may be continuing a troubling playoff trend

Should the Brewers be eliminated on Wednesday, this would continue a troubling and extremely disappointing trend that the Crew has faced over the years. In the recent past, they've had no trouble making it to the playoffs. Making it through the playoffs has come with its fair share of issues.

Since 2008 when the Brewers snapped a playoff drought that felt like it'd rival the one the Cubs snapped in 2016, Milwaukee has made the postseason eight times, with 2024 being the eighth. The farthest they've made it was in 2018 when a heartbreaking loss to the Dodgers in Game 7 of the NLCS brought their hopes to an end just one game away from the World Series.

That would've been the first time the Brewers even made the World Series since 1982, when they lost to the Cardinals in seven games.

It's just been disappointment after disappointment for the Brewers once the playoffs roll around. Last year, they were swept out of the Wild Card Series by the Diamondbacks. In 2020, they were swept out of the WCS by the Dodgers. In 2019, they lost the Wild Card Game to the Nationals.

Do you see the pattern? The Brewers stomp on the competition through the regular season but disappear once the pressure is turned up. It's a frustrating trend that's been going on for years now. There were multiple times throughout this year's regular season where it felt like things were going to be different. The lineup was deep, the bullpen was one of the best in the game and the starting rotation - especially in the second half - was elevating their game, too.

Now, it's time for the Brewers to step up and prove that they have what it takes to truly stick with the big dogs in this playoff field. The pressure is nothing they haven't faced before, but pushing through it and coming out on top is something we haven't seen from them in quite some time.

More from Reviewing the Brew