Sean Manaea was great again and the Mets‘ bats came up clutch late in their 6-3 win over the Phillies on Saturday afternoon at Citi Field.
Citi Field was a sellout with 44,152 fans in attendance, a season-high and the fifth-highest attendance in ballpark history.
Here are the takeaways…
-The ball was flying early in this game with both teams scorching two solo shots a piece to open up the scoring.
Kyle Schwarber got the Phillies on the board with his MLB-leading 25th leadoff home run, a 406-foot drive off a Sean Manaea slider running away that the left-hander went with. Francisco Alvarez and Luisangel Acuña went yard in the second to give the Mets an early lead. Alvarez’s blast was his third in four games and it went 113.8 mph off the bat, his hardest-hit home run of his career.
Nick Castellanos would tie things up in the fifth when he dropped the hammer on an 84 mph changeup on the outside of the plate that went just 377 feet.
-The Mets continue to not be clutch and a little unlucky in this one. After stranding runners on the corners in the second, they had their best chance in the sixth after a Harrison Bader two-out walk and Acuña floater down the right-field line that Castellanos dove for and missed. The ball dropped in fair territory but bounced into the stands for a ground-rule double and prevented Taylor from scoring, which he certainly would have. Jose Iglesias, one of the Mets’ most clutch hitters this season, hit a dribbler that was batted down by pitcher Jose Ruiz who had to scramble to make a great play and keep the Mets off the board.
But Brandon Nimmo would come through in the seventh. After a walk to Starling Marte and an HBP on Pete Alonso, Nimmo poked a single to left field to give the Mets a 3-2 lead. The Mets were 0-for-their-last-14 with RISP before that hit.
Alvarez followed up with a two-run double with two outs to give New York some much-needed insurance runs.
Alonso would tack on another run in the eighth with two outs when Bryson Stott and Cal Stevenson allowed a fly ball to fall in between them.
-Those runs were more than enough for Manaea as the southpaw was great once again. Those two solo shots were the only hits allowed until the eighth inning when he allowed a leadoff single before Carlos Mendoza pulled his starter to a standing ovation from a raucous Citi Field crowd. Manaea left after 89 pitches (65 strikes) allowing three runs on three hits and no walks while striking out six batters.
Manaea has pitched at least 6.2 innings in eight straight starts.
–Reed Garrett was a step away from getting out of the eighth but the Mets could not complete the inning-ending double play, allowing Manaea’s man to score and cut the lead to 5-3. Mendoza called on Edwin Diaz for the four-out save and struck out Schwarber looking to end the eighth.
Diaz got through Trea Turner, Bryce Harper and Alec Bohm in order to close out the game.
-Acuña continues to be great in the absence of Francisco Lindor. The young shortstop went 2-for-3 with a walk and is now 10-for-26 with three home runs and six RBI since his call-up. Iglesias went 2-for-5 and extended his hitting streak to 15 games.
Alonso finished 1-for-1 with three walks and was on base five times. Mark Vientos went hitless and struck out five times. He’s now 4-for-19 with 10 strikeouts in his last five games.
Game MVP: Francisco Alvarez
Alvarez picked up three of the Mets’ six runs, none bigger than that two-run double to give the bullpen some breathing room.
Highlights
What’s next
The Mets and Phillies wrap up their four-game series on Sunday night. First pitch is scheduled for 7:15 p.m.
Tylor Megill (4-5, 4.08 ERA) will take the mound for New York while the Phillies will have Zack Wheeler (16-6, 2.56 ERA) on the bump.
