The New York Mets continued play on Tuesday evening against the Milwaukee Brewers, one day after they clinched a postseason berth for the first time since 2016. They looked to continue their good fortunes on the road, holding a 44-29 record away from Citi Field going into the game.

With a tight race in the National League East, and a third wildcard spot in play, both teams have a lot at stake each game the rest of the way. Milwaukee still has a chance to catch up to San Diego and Philadelphia in hopes of clinching a postseason birth of their own, but late-game heroics led by Pete Alonso and Francisco Lindor secured a Mets 7-5 victory.

A late-inning offensive surge brought the Mets right back into the game after they got down 4-0 early.

Mark Canha was hit by the first pitch of the sixth inning to start things off. Lindor then singled on a ground ball to right field. With two runners on base, Alonso smacked one deep to straightaway center for a three-run homer, his 37th home run of the season.

The Polar Bear’s blast cut the Brewers’ lead to just one run. He’s hit three-run homers in back-to-back games.

The Mets took their offensive momentum into the seventh inning. After Mark Vientos grounded out, former-Padre Taylor Rogers checked into the game in relief. He walked three straight batters–Darin Ruf, James McCann and Brandon Nimmo–to load the bases. Lindor stepped up to the plate and hit a rocket of a grand slam to put the Mets in the lead.

Aaron Ashby made his first start for Milwaukee since he was placed on the injured list due to shoulder inflammation in is throwing arm. On a limited pitch count, he finished his day after two scoreless innings while allowing three baserunners.

The Mets did the bulk of their damage off of Rogers in the seventh inning, although all three runs scored from Alonso’s homer was charged to Brad Boxberger. The Brewers bullpen was unable to hold up to maintain the lead.

Carlos Carrasco, the Mets’ starter, didn’t have his best stuff in this game. The Brewers lineup came out red hot in the second inning, producing four hits and three runs. Kolten Wong and Andrew McCutchen led off the inning with back-to-back doubles. Omar Narváez and Willy Adames both picked up an RBI single of their own.

Carrasco finished his night after 90 pitches in just four innings of work. Despite not having great stuff, he kept the Mets in reaching distance. The offense and bullpen picked him up in a big way.

Contributions from Trevor Williams, Joely Rodríguez and Trevor May bridged the middle innings to their eighth and ninth inning relievers.

After Adam Ottavino allowed a run with two outs in the eighth, Buck Showalter phoned his closer Edwin Díaz into the game to try for a four-out save opportunity. Díaz struck out left-handed slugger Rowdy Tellez with 100-mph heat to end the inning.

Díaz closed out the ninth inning in order on 10 pitches to pick up his 31st save of the year.

Player of the Game: Francisco Lindor

Lindor showed up in grand style in Cream City. He launched the go-ahead grand slam in the seventh inning, propelling the Mets to victory. He scored on Alonso’s 3-run shot the previous inning, playing an imperative role in the offense. In the first two games of this series, he is 4-8 with a triple, home run, five RBIs and four runs scored.

On Deck

The Mets will close out the season series against Milwaukee on Wednesday afternoon at 2:10 p,m.

Taijuan Walker (12-4, 3.42 ERA, 111 SO) will face off against Adrian Houser (6-9, 4.85 ERA, 66 SO) with a chance for a three-game sweep of the Brewers. With the Atlanta Braves beating the Washington Nationals on Tuesday, the Mets’ lead in the NL East remains unchanged. The Mets hold the one-game lead for at least another day.