The reinvention of Sean Manaea started with a haircut in spring training. Then, he dropped his arm slot over the summer and became dominant.
The culmination of his reinvention is unfolding at the right time. Manaea carved up the Philadelphia Phillies’ lineup Tuesday night in the Mets’ 7-2 win in Game 3 of the NLDS. The Subway-riding, chess-playing, world-traveling hurler was ultra-efficient, limiting the Phillies to only three hits over seven shutout innings, before he was charged with a run in the eighth.
Phil Maton came in for Manaea with one on and none out in the eighth and allowed an inherited runner to score before giving up a run of his own.
But by the eighth, the game was nearly out of reach for the Phillies, with the Mets holding a 6-0 lead. Francisco Lindor made it 7-2 with a two-out RBI double off Carlos Estévez in the eighth.
Pete Alonso and Jesse Winker each homered off right-hander Aaron Nola. Starling Marte drove in two huge runs in the sixth and Jose Iglesias did the same in the seventh.
Citi Field was quite the sight on Tuesday night, with nearly 45,000 fans clad in blue and orange and a whole lot of purple dotting the stands. Grimace is proving to be a popular Halloween costume around the city this year.
Who could have possibly predicted any of this? So much about the Mets have always been weird, wacky and unpredictable, but especially this season. They embraced a McDonald’s mascot, they honored a veteran named Seymour Weiner and at one point, sunk to 11 games under .500.
But this win felt wholly predictable. After starting the playoffs on the road, they were eager to share their success with their fans.
When Alonso hit an opposite-field home run off Nola to lead off the second inning and give the Mets a 1-0 lead, the crowd exploded. It felt like it was already over and with the way Manaea was pitching, it practically was.
Winker hit a towering shot to right field off Nola in the fourth inning to make it 2-0. Nola missed badly with a fastball, leaving it belt-high over the heart of the plate.
Nola failed to get an out in the sixth, loading the bases before the Phillies went to Orion Kerkering. Iglesias hit a slow roller to Edmundo Sosa at second base and he nabbed the runner at home. But Iglesias was safe at first on the force, keeping the bases loaded.
With two out, Marte hit a line drive to center field to score two and put the Mets up 4-0.
The Mets loaded the bases again in the seventh, this time with two outs against left-hander Jose Alvarado. And again, Iglesias came up to the plate to face the new pitcher, right-hander Jose Ruiz.
He put it in play, hitting a single up the middle to score two more.
Manaea came back out for the eighth, but was lifted after Sosa beat the tag on a ground ball to third base for a single. He struck out six and walked three over more than seven innings, the most he had ever pitched in a playoff game.
The fans saluted him with a roaring ovation as he exited the field.