MILWAUKEE — In the chaos of elation, the New York Mets briefly let the star of the celebration escape Thursday night.

Quickly, someone shouted, “Where the hell is Pete?”

The search lasted only a few moments.

“He’s there!” someone else shouted.

Another Mets player then loudly ordered, “Everyone attack Pete!”

Within seconds, several Mets players were taking turns emptying bottles of champagne over Pete Alonso.

A soon-soaked Alonso, holding a can of beer in one hand and a bottle of champagne in the other, embraced Jose Iglesias and squeezed him in a bear hug.

In the embrace, Iglesias told him, “Thank you for listening to me.”

Just before the bottom of the eighth inning, Iglesias told Alonso from his position at second base, “You’re going to hit a home run in the next inning.”

What happened next is now etched in Mets history. In the ninth inning of the deciding game three of the Wild Card series, the Mets were trailing by two runs. With one out, their runners were on first and third. Enduring the week’s crisis with calm, Alonso came to the table. He hit a three-run home run off Milwaukee Brewers closer Devin Williams to save the Mets’ season and send New York to the Division Series.

“It was meant to be,” Iglesias said after the 4-2 victory. “I’ve seen departures and stuff like that, but this is one of my happiest moments. It’s a dream come true.”

Throughout the day, Iglesias, one of the Mets’ clubhouse leaders whose catchy song “OMG” became the rallying cry of the season, encouraged Alonso.

“He felt a little uncomfortable,” Iglesias said. “I just told him, ‘Be on time. Timing is everything. And now? Damn, I’m so proud of him.”

Later, in a rare moment on the pitch when he wasn’t attracting a crowd, Alonso delivered Iglesias’s simple but consistent message: “He meant a lot to me. Really, a lot. It meant so much to me.”

For a while, the Mets needed Alonso to move on. Big time. His walking year was devoid of standout moments. However, club officials always repeated the same thing, that thanks to his power he could change the course of the match in an instant. Still, his last extra-base hit came on September 19. Before the home run, Alonso was 0-for-3 with a shot in the seventh inning. Whatever. He still believed.

In the seventh inning, Alonso told Mets manager Eric Chavez in a relaxed tone, “I’m just walking through these pitches. I feel like I was there. One deviation.

Recalling the conversation, Chavez said: “He was calmer than me.”

Players often say things like this to coaches, so Chavez didn’t know exactly how to interpret the message. But he noticed at least one thing that he later said would be important. Alonso, despite the downturn and hardships of his Mets career, which will likely end Thursday night, remains optimistic.

After Williams’ bid to make it 3-1, Alonso sent in a changeup that put the plate 367 feet behind the wall in right field. He said he immediately knew it was a home run. At first base, Brandon Nimmo said he wasn’t sure. After all, the Mets didn’t hit a home run in the first two games of this series. So Nimmo said he just hoped the ball went over the outfielder’s head. But Alonso was running towards Nimmo. So Nimmo took one more look at the pitch and rightly said to himself, “Oh my God.”

By the time Alonso reached second base, almost all of the Mets’ players had left the dugout.

“Words can’t explain it,” Alonso said. “It’s unreal.”

Mets owner Steve Cohen tried to construct a few sentences.

“Great players, they can handle themselves in the clutch, right?” Cohen said. “It’s an amazing moment for him and the team.”

The Mets have come far without Alonso carrying them on their backs. If he likes it, the Mets will be even more dangerous heading into Saturday afternoon’s game against the Philadelphia Phillies.

Before the game, Mets manager Carlos Mendoza once again maintained his faith in Alonso and said, “We’re waiting for that one change. I hope today is the day.

It’s worth the wait.

“I’m proud of him,” Mendoza said after the game. “This is a dream come true for him and all of us.”

Seven minutes after the Mets advanced and as the team celebrated on the field, some fans behind the New York dugout at American Family Field began loudly chanting, “Pete A-lon-yes! Pete A-lon-yes!“

This would be the first of more songs for Pete Alonso.

(Top photo of Pete Alonso: Credit: Benny Sieu/Imagn Images)