NEW YORK — The Mets punched back in Queens, pushing Philadelphia to the brink of elimination in this National League Division Series showdown between NL East foes.
The Phillies recorded just five hits — all singles — in a letdown 7-2 loss to the Mets in Game 3 on Tuesday evening at Citi Field. Mets starter Sean Manaea, the left-hander who was rocked in Philadelphia in the 2022 playoffs and revitalized his career this season, threw seven hard-fought, scoreless innings. Right-hander Aaron Nola allowed two home runs for the Phillies, and their bullpen allowed four inherited runners to score.
Philadelphia, down 2-1 in this best-of-five series, will send the struggling Ranger Suárez to the mound in Game 4, looking to keep its season alive against starting pitcher Jose Quintana and the Mets.
“Well, as a group, this is the closest to death we’re ever going to get,” Phillies right fielder Nick Castellanos said. “So in a way, we should feel the most alive. We’re only promised tomorrow.”
The Phillies’ offensive struggles did not quite match the first 14 brutal innings of this series before the bats woke up in the sixth inning of their Game 2 victory. The lineup hit the ball hard against Manaea in the first couple innings, putting it in play for the first six outs of the game. The Phillies avoided chasing as much, but the better process didn’t net them results.
“I thought our at-bats early in the game were O.K.,” manager Rob Thomson said. “We hit three balls right on the nose in the first inning. Just didn’t have anything to show for it.”
Nola, getting the start after Philadelphia used Cristopher Sánchez in Game 2 at Citizens Bank Park, looked sharp for most of his outing, aside from two pitches that left a major impact. Mets slugger Pete Alonso laced an opposite-field home run off the facing of the second deck in right field to lead off the bottom of the second, and Jesse Winker put one into that upper level with his fourth-inning rocket on a fastball over the middle of the plate.
Thomson gave Nola a long leash as he loaded the bases in the bottom of the sixth, but the team had to insert young right-hander Orion Kerkering into the jam with no outs. He retired two Mets in the stressful situation before Starling Marte came through with two-out, two-run single to center field to put New York ahead 4-0. Nola finished with four runs on his line in five-plus innings.
“Besides the two homers and the two walks at the end of the sixth that kind of hurt me, other than that I felt pretty good,” Nola said. “But I left the bases loaded with Kerkering coming in. It’s a tough job, having no outs with the bases loaded against a team like this, how they’re playing right now.”
Manaea dealt for New York, getting revenge for his 2022 NL Championship Series disaster with the San Diego Padres by escaping the few signs of trouble that Philadelphia presented. The Phillies had a ready-made chance in the top of the sixth inning with runners on first and second base and Game 2 heroes Bryce Harper and Castellanos due up. Manaea walked the first two batters, putting more than one Philadelphia runner on base in an inning for the first time. Harper and Castellanos swung at the next six pitches as the Mets lefty exited unscathed.
“I thought that was possibly an opportunity to get back in,” Thomson said.
Harper struck out on three pitches in a quick plate appearance, waving at a sweeper well out of the zone to end it. Castellanos lined out to second base on a hard-hit ball, and New York doubled Kyle Schwarber off second to end the inning.
“That’s just a situation where he’s trying to do too much,” Thomson said of Harper’s strikeout, “trying to put the club on his shoulders. Again, it’s about passing the baton and relying on your teammates.”
The Mets scored two more runs in the seventh off José Ruiz after José Alvarado had loaded the bases. New York added another in the eighth against Carlos Estévez.
The Phillies scored two runs in the eighth inning on back-to-back RBI singles from Harper and Castellanos, but it wasn’t enough to counter New York’s attack. Now, the surging Mets are on the brink of knocking out the 95-win, division-champion Phillies.
“Just gotta win,” Harper said. “We’ve done that all year. So just gotta go out there, get Quintana and win a game.”
Philadelphia bounced back in Game 2 this weekend after a brutal opening loss. The club will have to repeat that on Wednesday to save the season and send this NLDS to a Game 5 back at home.
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Barbara Jean Cravero
October 8, 2024 at 8:58 pm
I saw this coming. I saw this coming since August. They are not hitting and the stellar pitching all of sports talked about in the first half of the season is no more.