Mets 6 Phillies 3 (Citi Field, Flushing, NY)
Mets record: 86-69
Mets streak: Won 1
WP - Sean Manaea (12-5)
LP - Orion Kerkering (5-3)
SV- Edwin Diaz (19)
Seat on the Korner:
We select the star of the game and virtually invite him to a Seat on the Korner, just as Ralph Kiner used to do for his studio postgame show on WOR-channel 9 broadcasts in the early decades of the Mets.
Francisco Alvarez's homer in the 2nd inning got the Mets on the board, and his two run double in the 7th gave the Mets the margin of victory they needed in a 6-3 victory to stay two games ahead of Atlanta for the third wild card.
Need to Know
Kyle Schwarber's leadoff home run on the second pitch of the game from Sean Manaea was his 15th leadoff homer of the season and his 36th overall.
Sean Manaea was brilliant after Schwarber's homer, giving up three runs on three hits in seven innings total (with two of them being home runs) while striking out six. It was his 8th straight start of at least 6 and 2/3's innings, and the Mets are now 16-3 in Manaea's last 19 starts.
Jose Iglesias' leadoff double extended his hitting streak to 15 games.
Brandon Nimmo's RBI single in the 7th gave him 11 RBI in his last 8 games, and 5th RBI in this series.
Francisco Alvarez's second inning home run was his 5 in his last 9 games.
Luisangel Acuna's second inning home run was his 3rd of the season, reaching it in just 24 at-bats.
Nick Castellanos' home run was his third off Manaea in 14 at-bats.
Pete Alonso finished 1-for-1 with an RBI (a key insurance run which made it 6-3 in the 8th) to go along with three walks and a hit by pitch to reach base five times.
Mark Vientos' platinum sombrero was the first by a Met since Tyler Naquin in 2022.
J.D. Martinez started the game on the bench today after reaching 32 straight at-bats without a hit.
Francisco Lindor missed his 6th straight game tonight, and Carlos Mendoza announced before the game that the earliest he will come back is on Tuesday in Atlanta.
Turning Point
You could choose pretty much anything that happened in the 7th inning, top to bottom. But with after the Phillies got a run in the 8th off Reed Garrett (Manaea's run), Carlos Mendoza brought in Edwin Diaz to face the tying run in Kyle Schwarber, who homered to kick off the game, to start off a four out save.
Schwarber is now 0-for-7 lifetime with 5 K's against Diaz who would, indeed, finish out the four out save for the win.
Three Keys
The 7th, Act I
In a tight 2-2 game in the 7th, the team that played tight defensively and got the breaks was going to win. The Mets played tight defensively ...
... and they got the breaks.
Those two plays changed what could have been a disaster into a 1-2-3 inning for Manaea.
The 7th, Act II
The Phillies brought in Orion Kerkering to pitch the 7th, and he was pitching on back to back days. The Mets took advantage as Kerkering walked Marte to start the inning, and then hit Alonso with a pitch with one out. It brought up Nimmo, who showed off his bat-to-ball skills to give the Mets the lead for good:
Then after Nimmo stole second and Tyrone Taylor struck out, it was Alvarez with runners on second and third and two outs. Alvarez has been swinging for the moon in recent games, but he dusted off his own bat-to-ball skills for some breathing room, which turned out to be extremely important and useful.
Happy Manaea Day
There are many reasons that the Mets have elevated themselves into this playoff race. Lindor's MVP caliber season, Jose Iglesias' contributions, Diaz's resurgence to name a few. But none might be more important as the adjustments that Sean Manaea made after his start against the Phillies in London where he gave up 6 runs in 3 and 2/3's innings.
On a day where Matt Harvey made an appearance at Citi Field, the Mets' 16-3 record in Manaea's starts reminds us that we have had our own version of Harvey Day for the new decade. Good thing too, as someone had to counteract Chris Sale Day in Atlanta, as the Braves have won his last 8 starts and have gone 22-7 when he pitches. (The Mets have gone 22-8 in Manaea's starts in 2024.)
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