“Mets pitching retires final 17 Milwaukee batters.”

Early in the New York Mets' 8-4 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers in Game 1 of their Wild Card Series, it looked like the team would have to use a slew of pitchers to close out the game. Luis Severino played with fire early as the Brewers had runners in each of the first four innings.

However, if you told a fan at that point that the team would only use three pitchers and none of their top relievers, no one would have believed you. On a day when Phil Maton And Edwin Diaz were probably not available. Severino's trioJose Butto And Ryne Stanek The last 17 Brewers retired to secure the win.

While Severino only recorded a combined strikeout in the fifth and sixth innings, he was able to strike out all six batters he faced and kept his pitch count at a manageable level (26 pitches in those two frames). The key for him to get the swings and misses was his sweeper. This pitch gave him five of his eight whiffs Baseball expert.

The line wasn't Severino's best (6 IP, 3 ER, 8 H, 2 BB, 3 K). However, he managed to fight without his A qualities and throw 105 throws (68 hits). This number is the second most pitches he has ever thrown this year (113 as of August 17). Additionally, it was the second-longest of 11 appearances he made in his playoff career (7 innings against Cleveland on October 9, 2017).

Even though it looked like Severino's day was short, manager Carlos Mendoza continued his trend of trusting his pitcher and trying to get everything he could out of him. It worked for the second day in a row.

Next up was José Buttó, who was the fireman for the Mets at times this year with his ability to throw multiple innings. While it looked like he was trying to keep the Mets within striking distance in the first innings, his appearance was delayed until the seventh and he looked dominant.

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Buttó pitched two perfect innings, striking out three batters on 25 pitches (15 strikes). Tuesday marked the first time since August 16 that Butto went multiple innings in one appearance. To end his outing, he took advantage of a change to come Jake Bauer looked and then he struck Rhys Hoskins with a 96 mph fastball in the eighth.

While denied the opportunity to make a save in three innings, Buttó extended his scoreless streak to six consecutive appearances and recorded ten strikeouts in his last four appearances (four innings). As the postseason progresses, he can be a difference-maker in any situation heading into the later innings.

After warming up in case he was needed in Game 1 of Monday's doubleheader, Ryne Stanek got the ball for the ninth time and threw strikes (11 of his 14 pitches) in his 1-2-3 inning (one strikeout). .

Heading into this series, both teams' bullpens were under scrutiny. Known for the use of its relievers, Milwaukee had the lowest ERA of any game in the National League during the regular season. Your trio of helpers (Joel Payamps, Aaron Ashby, Nick Mears) combined to allow five runs on five hits.

Yes, both teams will have their closers available for Game 2 on Wednesday. However, the Mets only had to use two relievers and didn't burn any starters, as was the case with Milwaukee Aaron Civale is a big bonus.

For one day, it was the Mets' pitchers who could throw the ball better than the Brewers' relievers. Mendoza has had to get creative with his pitching deployment over the last 48 hours, and for a rookie manager to be able to do that is impressive to say the least.

The Mets' offense managed to silence the Brewers with a fifth run, and it was the pitchers who ensured that the noise at American Family Field never returned to the stadium.