Tuesday evening at Citi Field, the New York Mets beat the NL East rival Philadelphia Phillies (NYM 7, PHI 2) to take a 2-1 series lead in the NLDS. The Mets are one win away from their first NLCS since 2015 and the Phillies are one loss away from going home for the winter.
Mets ace Sean Manaea was brilliant in Game 3, holding Philadelphia to one run in seven innings. He struck out six in seven innings and he wasn’t even on the mound when the run scored. The bullpen allowed an inherited runner to cross the plate. Manaea has been terrific since lowering his arm slot to be more like Chris Sale at midseason.
It turns out Manaea was pitching with a heavy heart Tuesday. He found out before the game his Aunt Mabel passed away.
“That game was for her,” Manaea said.
Last Thursday, Manaea’s teammate Brandon Nimmo revealed his grandfather passed away prior to New York’s dramatic Game 3 win over the Milwaukee Brewers in the Wild Card Series.
Manaea had a 15.26 ERA in three previous postseason appearances before 2024. He’s allowed just three runs in 12 innings this October.
“He didn’t back down from contact. He didn’t back away,” Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said of Manaea. “We know they are an aggressive lineup, and they showed it right away. They were attacking him but he kept getting the baseball. He had really good rhythm and he went right after. He trusted his stuff. He trusted the game plan, and he didn’t back away from it.
“I liked how he used all of his pitches, especially the changeup. And when he needed to make pitches, he did an unbelievable job, and like I said, he was on the attack. It was a different look today, even though we seen it the whole year, but his mound presence, his demeanor, like there was something different about him today that I’m just proud of him.”
Now 32, Manaea will almost certainly opt out of his $13.5 million salary for 2025 after the season and become a free agent. That does not rule out a return to the Mets. It only means it will be a while lot more expensive.
