MILWAUKEE -- Before the Brewers handed a two-run lead to their star closer in Game 3 of the National League Wild Card Series, it was a night for the underdogs.

Take the bottom of the seventh inning. With veteran stars Willy Adames, William Contreras and Rhys Hoskins on the way to going 1-for-10 on the night and 4-for-32 in the series, Milwaukee manager Pat Murphy summoned Jake Bauers to pinch-hit against tough Mets right-hander Jos¨¦ Butt¨®. Bauers batted .199 in the regular season.

Up next would be right fielder Sal Frelick. He hit two home runs in 2024, in back-to-back games May 14-15, and he wasn¡¯t even expected to play in this postseason after injuring his right hip while crashing into the wall less than a week ago. Frelick had to be carried into the clubhouse.

¡°We were sitting in the on-deck circle and he kind of looked at me and said, ¡®Let¡¯s just have some fun,'¡± Frelick said. ¡°We were playing a little tight up to that point.¡±

Bauers intended to change that.

¡°I looked over and he was smiling,¡± Frelick said. ¡°You could tell he was really excited.¡±

Bauers and Frelick hit back-to-back pitches for home runs, giving the Brewers a 2-0 lead with six outs to go. Had the ninth inning gone differently, they would have been two of the biggest homers in Brewers history -- just as big as the ones Jackson Chourio and Garrett Mitchell hit the night before to extend the season.

¡°That¡¯s up there with the birth of my child, for sure,¡± Bauers said. ¡°It¡¯s tough to be excited about it right now. I just really wish we could still be playing.¡±

Is there a lesson in there about unlikely heroes?

¡°There¡¯s something to be said for mental toughness, focus, not giving up, being persistent and having a little bit of confidence regardless of how things are going or how they¡¯ve been,¡± Bauers said. ¡°Just show up and be the best version of yourself every day and let the chips fall where they may.¡±

The Brewers were only in that position -- a tie game in the seventh -- thanks to another underdog in right-hander Tobias Myers. He was coming off a 1-15 season when he signed a two-year Minor League contract with the Brewers at the end of 2022, and when he reported to Spring Training in ¡®24, he wasn¡¯t on Murphy¡¯s list of the top 25 pitchers with a chance to help the team.

But help he did, cementing a spot in the rotation for this year -- and almost certainly for 2025 -- after injuries cut down Wade Miley, Jakob Junis and fellow rookie Robert Gasser. Myers delivered a 3.00 ERA in 27 games and 25 starts. Against the Mets, he pitched five scoreless innings on two hits and no walks, becoming the fifth pitcher to deliver a scoreless start of at least five innings in a postseason debut that occurred in a winner-take-all game.

The others were all in Wild Card Games when that round was a one-game affair: Kyle Freeland for the Rockies in 2018, Jake Arrieta for the Cubs and Dallas Keuchel for the Astros in 2015 and Alex Cobb for the Rays in 2013.

¡°I was just trying to get as many outs as I can,¡± Myers said. ¡°I felt pretty good from Pitch 1. I was definitely amped up a little bit more than normal, but I felt in control. I felt good.¡±

After losing in such jarring fashion, Myers said, ¡°It¡¯s a crazy game we play. It felt like that all series, back and forth. We knew the Mets weren¡¯t going to lay down and give up.¡±

It was the sort of stuff that keeps coaches like Brewers hitting coach Connor Dawson coming to work every day.

¡°You hear the phrase all the time, ¡®Anything can happen in baseball,¡¯¡± Dawson said. ¡°Well, anything did happen. You can talk schemes in other sports and situations. In baseball, a guy has to throw it over the plate and anything can happen.

¡°That¡¯s the beauty of it all.¡±