NEW YORK — Sean Manaea carried a shutout into the eighth inning, benefiting from stellar defensive support from the New York Mets, who defeated the Philadelphia Phillies 7-2 in Game 3 of the National League Division Series on Tuesday.
Pete Alonso and Jesse Winker each hit home runs, while Starling Marte and Jose Iglesias contributed two-run singles. Francisco Lindor also added an RBI double for the Mets, who now lead the best-of-five series two games to one. Game 4 is set for Wednesday afternoon, as the Mets aim to reach the NL Championship Series for the first time since 2015.
The Phillies, who made it to the World Series in 2022 and the NLCS in 2023, have not won a game when facing elimination since their victory over the Toronto Blue Jays in Game 5 of the 1993 World Series.
Manaea (1-0), who entered the game with a 10.66 ERA in four playoff appearances, allowed one run on three hits, striking out six, walking two, and hitting two batters over seven-plus innings.
The best-hit ball against Manaea came from Alec Bohm, whose one-out single off the right-center field wall in the fourth was expertly fielded by center fielder Tyrone Taylor. Taylor barehanded the carom and threw to shortstop Francisco Lindor, who executed a swipe tag on the sliding Bohm.
Manaea worked out of a tricky situation in the sixth when he walked both Kyle Schwarber and Trea Turner to start the inning. The 32-year-old left-hander then struck out Bryce Harper on three pitches and got Nick Castellanos to line out to second, where Iglesias tossed to Lindor for a double play that retired Schwarber.
Manaea left the game to a standing ovation after allowing an infield single to Edmundo Sosa to start the eighth. Harper and Castellanos delivered back-to-back two-out RBI singles against Phil Maton and Ryne Stanek, but Bohm flew out, stranding two runners.
Alonso ignited the scoring with a home run on the first pitch he saw from Aaron Nola (0-1) in the second inning, marking his third homer in the last four games. Alonso, an impending free agent, extended the Mets’ season last Thursday with a three-run homer in the ninth inning of their 4-2 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers in Game 3 of an NL wild card series.
Winker launched a homer deep into the second deck in right during the fourth inning. Marte and Iglesias added their two-run hits in the sixth and seventh, respectively, before Lindor capped the scoring with his hit in the eighth.
Nola (0-1) allowed four runs on five hits and two walks, striking out eight across five-plus innings.
Source: Field Level Media