NEW YORK — Sean Manaea closed out the eighth inning and benefited from a strong defense behind him on Tuesday for the host New York Mets, who beat the Philadelphia Phillies 7-2 in Game 3 of the National League Division Series.
Pete Alonso and Jesse Winker pitched well, Starling Marte and Jose Iglesias each had two singles and Francisco Lindor added an RBI double for the Mets, who lead the series at five games to one. Game 4 is scheduled for Wednesday afternoon, when they host New York as they look to reach the NL Championship Series for the first time since 2015.
The Phillies, who reach the World Series in 2022 and the NLCS in 2023, haven’t won a game while facing elimination since defeating the Toronto Blue Jays in Game 5 of the 1993 World Series.
Manaea (1-0), who entered Tuesday with a 10.66 ERA in four career games, gave up one run on three hits while striking out six, walking two and pitching two over seven-plus innings.
Manaea’s best hit was Alec Bohm’s single over the right-field wall in the fourth, but center fielder Tyrone Taylor caromed a shot to Francisco Lindor, who made a swipe at the sliding Bohm. .
Manaea got out of the jam in the sixth, when he walked Kyle Schwarber and Trea Turner to open the inning. The 32-year-old southpaw then struck out Bryce Harper on three pitches and grounded Nick Castellanos to second, where Iglesias threw to Lindor to double off Schwarber.
Manaea walked after giving up Edmundo Sosa’s infield single to lead off the eighth. Harper and Castellanos had back-to-back RBI singles against Phil Maton and Ryne Stanek before Bohm flew out with two outs.
Alonso continued his streak of amazing times by playing the first pitch he saw off Aaron Nola (0-1) in the second inning. It was the third homer in the last four games for Alonso, an incoming free agent who extended the Mets’ season by hitting a three-inning homer last Thursday in New York’s 4-2 win over the Milwaukee Brewers in Game 3 of the NL wild-card series.
Winker went deep in the second right in the fourth. Marte and Iglesias added insurance singles in the sixth and seventh before Lindor delivered his own with a double in the eighth.
Nola (0-1) gave up four runs on five hits and two walks while striking out eight over five innings.
–Jerry Beach, Field Level Media
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