MILWAUKEE >> Jackson Chourio tied the game in the eighth with his second homer of the night and Garrett Mitchell delivered a two-run shot later in the inning to give the Milwaukee Brewers a 5-3 victory over the New York Mets on Wednesday that evened their NL Wild Card Series.

The teams will play a decisive Game 3 tonight. The Brewers will attempt to become the first team to win a best-of-three Wild Card Series after losing the opener since MLB went to this expanded playoff format in 2022.

“We talk about it every night: ‘Win tonight. Do whatever it takes,’” said Mitchell, a former Orange Lutheran High and UCLA star. “And that’s what we did.”

Milwaukee trailed 3-2 when Chourio led off the eighth by homering to right-center off losing pitcher Phil Maton, making his fourth appearance on the mound in five days. The 20-year-old rookie also opened the bottom of the first inning with a drive to right against Sean Manaea, becoming the youngest player to hit a leadoff homer in the postseason.

After Blake Perkins singled and William Contreras grounded into a double play, Willy Adames kept the eighth inning alive with a single. Mitchell then hit a drive just over the wall in right-center, a 390-foot shot that sent the American Family Field crowd into a frenzy.

“In that situation, it’s like the moment is telling you to speed up, try to do more, swing for the fences, whatever you’re thinking,” Mitchell said. “For me, it was just like, just attack in the zone. ... Be yourself, be relaxed, pass it to the next guy. That was my mentality. I’m not trying to hit a homer there.”

He did it anyway by connecting on a first-pitch curveball.

“Too much plate,” Maton said. “Happy with going first-pitch curveball to get ahead. It was just one of those things where he put a good swing on it. Nine times out of 10, I feel like I get a get a flyball to center field for an out. He put a good swing on it.”

New York manager Carlos Mendoza said after the game that closer Edwin Díaz was available, but the Mets didn’t want to use him for more than an inning.

Devin Williams retired the side in order in the ninth to earn the save. Joe Ross picked up the win after pitching 1 1/3 innings of scoreless relief.

Chourio is the second-youngest player to homer twice in a postseason game, behind 19-year-old Andruw Jones for Atlanta in the 1996 World Series opener at Yankee Stadium. The rookie has shown no signs of postseason pressure while going 4 for 8 in two games.

Now he has the Brewers one win from their first postseason series victory since 2018.

“It’s just been an incredible year,” Chourio said through a translator. “There’s not much more to say than that. It’s been an incredible year for everyone, for all the guys in that clubhouse. I think we saw the fruits that were beared from that.”

Now both teams will have their seasons on the line tonight.

“Obviously, losing’s not fun, but we’ve been responding to adversity all year,” Mets first baseman Pete Alonso said. “I’m really excited for this challenge tomorrow. I know they’re equally as excited. This is what the playoffs are all about.”