MILWAUKEE -- Tyrone Taylor had yet to cross home plate and already Jose Iglesias was beating his chest. This was hustle, plain and simple. This was the Mets fighting fire with fire.

For the first four innings of National League Wild Card Series Game 1 on Tuesday, the Brewers had run wild at American Family Field, much as their manager Pat Murphy promised they would. The Mets never managed to stop them. Instead, they found a different way to counteract all that chaos -- by engineering some of their own.

With two men on base and two outs in the fifth, Iglesias hit a sharp ground ball to first base, where Rhys Hoskins smothered it and flipped to pitcher Joel Payamps. That all seemed to happen in slow motion compared to the way Iglesias was sprinting down the line. In his rush to beat a sliding Iglesias to the bag, Payamps momentarily forgot about Taylor, who had rounded third with aggression and was barreling home. By the time Payamps realized his mistake, Taylor was already well down the line with the tying run in what became an 8-4 Mets win over the Brewers.

¡°It¡¯s important to match the aggressiveness,¡± Taylor said.

¡°That was probably the biggest changing point of the game,¡± added designated hitter J.D. Martinez. ¡°You could see the momentum swing right after that.¡±

The Mets, who only just qualified for the playoffs on Monday, need just one more victory to clinch a spot in the National League Division Series against the Phillies. Game 2 of the Wild Card Series is scheduled for Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. ET.

In the brief history of the best-of-three Wild Card Series, teams winning Game 1 have gone on to advance 14 out of 16 times. Of the 10 teams to take Game 1 on the road, eight have won the series, including seven via sweep.

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If the Mets play Game 2 with the same type of urgency, they could soon be touching down in Philadelphia. After Iglesias propelled Taylor home with the tying run, the Mets went on to score four more times in the fifth inning, taking advantage of a Jackson Chourio missed catch that put Taylor on base in the first place. Mark Vientos hit a go-ahead, two-run single and Martinez added a pinch-hit, two-run knock of his own to complete the Mets¡¯ most productive postseason inning in 18 years.

Luis Severino, meanwhile, recovered from a shaky start to retire the final eight batters he faced, allowing four runs (three earned) in six innings for the win.

But much as the Mets turned the first game of Monday¡¯s doubleheader on its head with a six-run eighth in Atlanta, they buried the Brewers with five in the fifth -- their biggest postseason inning since 2006 NL Championship Series Game 4 against the Cardinals. The fuel came from -- who else? -- Iglesias, the Mets¡¯ spiritual leader since the early summer who needed just 4.47 seconds to sprint from home plate to first.

¡°I didn¡¯t make the decision to slide until I got a feel that I was going to beat the pitcher there,¡± Iglesias said. ¡°That was the only way. I dived with my heart right there.¡±

All the while, Taylor was galloping around the bases, unaware of what was happening behind him. His eyes were trained on third-base coach Mike Sarbaugh waving him home. Taylor figured the ball might have squirted past Hoskins and onto the outfield grass, but until he neared the plate, he had no idea he might score without a throw.

¡°I think it¡¯s just a little uncharacteristic of us, not making plays that we¡¯d normally make,¡± Hoskins said. ¡°Obviously, it¡¯s unfortunate that it led to five runs there. Those are just the types of things that can¡¯t happen in playoff games -- any games, really, but definitely in playoff games -- and they took advantage of it.¡±

These days, the Mets are taking advantage of every millimeter the opposition gives them. They entered this Wild Card Series gassed from a whirlwind end to their season -- a ¡°[expletive]-show,¡± as reliever Ryne Stanek put it. Severino was shaky early. The bullpen was without closer Edwin D¨ªaz, who had thrown more than five dozen pitches the previous two days. The Mets were the on-paper underdogs against the NL Central champions.

None of it mattered to a group Iglesias long ago branded with his ¡°OMG¡± stamp -- a team that, on Tuesday, kept its momentum rolling with each of his steps down the first-base line.

¡°It seems like every game, he does something like that,¡± shortstop Francisco Lindor said. ¡°Special player. He competes. His last two at-bats every game are very high-quality at-bats. He has helped us to be in this position for sure.¡±