Everything Pat Murphy said after Game 1 defeat to Mets

The Milwaukee Brewers lost 8-4 to the New York Mets in Game 1 of the NL Wild Card Series on Tuesday, setting up a do-or-die Game 2 at home. It was a crushing loss for Milwaukee, and the latest installment in what has become a concerning trend for the franchise.

With their Game 1 loss, the Brewers have now dropped four straight postseason games after leading by at least two runs in each of them. That obviously spans two different managers and several personnel changes, but the heart of this Brewers squad is the same as last year's NL Central champs. And that very well may be the problem.

It's not wise to pay too much attention to noisy stats like the one above, but the Brewers clearly struggle to execute against adversity in October. There are several forces at play here, but most of the blame for Tuesday's loss was immediately dumped on Pat Murphy.

Taking over for Craig Counsell, Murphy has done an excellent job building up the Brewers locker room and navigating significant changes to the roster. Milwaukee lost several key contributors last winter, none more important than perennial Cy Young candidate Corbin Burnes, but the Brewers persisted.

All the preseason talk was about Counsell and the Cubs taking over the NL Central, but the Brewers were pretty much in the driver's seat all season. And yet, managers are often judged on their October performances above all else. Murphy's first taste of postseason baseball did not go well.

Here's what he said to reporters after the game.

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Pat Murphy tries to justify curious bullpen management after Brewers Game 1 loss to Mets

The biggest knock on Murphy's decision-making Tuesday night was his choice to sub out Freddy Peralta after four innings and just 68 pitches. New York managed three runs in the second inning, but Peralta retired nine straight before his plug was pulled.

Murphy, well, he didn't realize Peralta had retired nine straight. He did give credit to the Mets, though, citing all they've fought through to get to this moment.

When Peralta hit the pine, Murphy turned to the red-hot Joel Payamps in relief. With a 3.05 ERA on the season (and 1.03 over his last 30 appearances), Payamps was supposed to stop the bleeding and get Milwaukee's middle innings started on the right foot. That, uh, did not happen. Payamps allowed three earned runs, leaving two base runners and two outs for his mid-inning replacement in the top of the fifth — Aaron Ashby.

Rather than pitching out of the jam, Ashby allowed three hits and two walks without recording a single out and the roof was officially blown off. The Mets scored five runs in that fateful fifth inning while Peralta watched from the dugout. That was all she wrote. The Brewers went from up 4-3 to down 8-4 in a blink and would see their final 16 batters retired in order close the game.

Murphy made a valiant effort to explain his strategy.

It's the classic manager's conundrum. If it works, it works. We wouldn't be talking about the decision to yank Peralta had the Brewers bullpen held down the fort. But, it didn't work, and now Murphy is under fire for overextending and exposing his bullpen in a Game 1 loss.

The Brewers' backs are officially against the wall. It's worth nothing that Murphy has a healthy respect for his opponent.

Math and history don't favor the Brewers in this 0-1 hole. Anything is possible, and this Brewers squad is a resilient bunch, but New York has the upper hand. It's time for Murphy to pull out all the tricks in the book.