Absolute, utter heartbreak.

How else to describe the turn of events for the Milwaukee Brewers on Thursday night?

Three outs away from exorcising the postseason demons that have been haunting them since 2018, they instead had their hopes crushed with Devin Williams on the mound to close out Game 3 of the teams' National League wild-card series.

The right-hander allowed a pair of baserunners to reach with one out in the ninth inning to bring slugger Pete Alonso to the plate. Silent to that point in the series, he stunned the sellout crowd of 41,594 at American Family Field by lining a three-run home run to right.

BOX SCORE: Mets 4, Brewers 2

The sixth-seeded New York Mets tacked on another run against Williams before chasing him, and the third-seeded Brewers ultimately fell, 4-2, with their season ending in crushing fashion.

Only two innings earlier it had been pandemonium, as Jake Bauers and Sal Frelick homered on consecutive Jose Butto pitches to give Milwaukee a 2-0 lead.

Now, the Brewers are forced to stew all winter on yet another postseason flameout – this one as improbable as they come – rather than planning for an NL Division Series matchup against the Philadelphia Phillies at Citizens Bank Park beginning on Saturday.

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What a turn of events for the Brewers

Unable to get anything going offensively against Jose Quintana in the first six innings, the Brewers' offense awakened against Butto in the seventh.

Awakened in a big way that is.

The left-handed-hitting Bauers, called upon to hit for Rhys Hoskins with the right-handed Butto replacing Quintana, fell behind in the count 1-2 before working it back to full.

Butto's sixth pitch was a fat changeup left right out over the middle that Bauers didn't miss, as he sent it 405 feet out to right to break the scoreless deadlock.

More: Jake Bauers, Sal Frelick were in line to be postseason heroes before ninth-inning collapse

But Milwaukee wasn't done yet, as Frelick followed by going down and getting a 96-mph fastball from Butto and hammering it 408 feet into the second deck to absolutely electrify the crowd.

It was the second big hit for Bauers in meaningful games; it was his walkoff single that clinched the Central Division title for the Brewers on Sept. 18.

And it was the first homer for Frelick since all the way back on May 15. Don't forget that the rightfielder wasn't even supposed to play in the series after sustaining a left-hip contusion in a collision with the right-field wall last weekend.

Devin Williams couldn't close it down

Things were lined up perfectly for the Brewers after scoreless innings from Trevor Megill, Nick Mears and, surprisingly, Freddy Peralta.

That brought the Brewers' closer in with only three outs to get, but with the top of the Mets' order due up.

Williams immediately made things tough on himself by walking leadoff man Francisco Lindor. He followed by striking out Mark Vientos, then allowed a single to Brandon Nimmo to put runners on the corners for Alonso.

Williams fell behind, 3-1, then left a changeup out over the plate that Alonso drilled 354 feet out to right, stunning Williams and the crowd.

But the Mets weren't finished, as they tacked on an insurance run. Williams hit Winker, who stole second, and then Starling Marte singled to right to score Winker.

Joe Ross had to replace Williams at that point (34 pitches), and he finished out the inning. Frelick singled against David Peterson to open the bottom of the ninth, but Joey Ortiz struck out and Brice Turang hit into a game-ending double play.

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William Contreras was hobbled

Originally in the lineup at catcher, per usual, William Contreras flip-flopped with Gary Sánchez, and Sánchez made the start at catcher.

The reason? A balky left knee. The lineup change was made after manager Pat Murphy spoke to the media, so there was no explanation as to whether it was something that's popped up recently or if Contreras has been dealing with the issue for a while.

Contreras could be seen utilizing a bulky brace under his uniform pants and, while never a speed merchant to begin with, made things tougher on himself by hitting the ball on the ground in each of his first two at-bats (both groundouts).

Tobias Myers lived up to the moment

On a team filled with young and inexperienced players, rookie Tobias Myers undoubtedly had the most pressure placed on him in the series being called upon to start for the Brewers in the winner-take-all Game 3.

And like he did all season, the right-hander stepped up to the challenge.

He surrendered a leadoff hustle double to Lindor, a two-out single to Lindor in the third and hit Jesse Winker to open the fifth – that was it for baserunners against him over five shutout innings.

Myers struck out five, including two straight following the Winker plunking, and then got No. 9 hitter Francisco Alvarez to pop out to end his night on his 66th pitch.

Somewhat uncharacteristically – but totally understandably – Myers stalked off the mound after that final out exhorting himself and clearly enjoying the gem he'd spun. Removing him at that point fit the Brewers' script completely, with the team not wanting to expose Myers to the Mets a third time through the order.

Megill took over for Myers entering the sixth.

Jose Quintana back to his old tricks

Unfortunately for Myers, his left-handed counterpart Jose Quintana was up to the task as well.

Starting for the second time in Milwaukee in five days, the crafty veteran limited the Brewers to three hits and a walk in his six innings of work.

While he struck out only five – four fewer than last Saturday – Quintana generated eight ground-ball outs and allowed next to no hard contact over his 94-pitch outing.

In a bit of interesting timing, the 35-year-old was exactly six years and two days removed from starting, and losing to, the Brewers in that memorable Game 163 that clinched the Central Division title for Milwaukee at Wrigley Field.

Quintana's mastery of the Brewers over the years has been well-chronicled, and his performance in this one was just another chapter in the book.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Brewers eliminated from playoffs after Devin Williams falters in ninth