– by Adesina O. Koiki
A Lot of Sports Talk editor-in-chief
Follow @Koiki_Sport Follow @ALOST_Official
NEW YORK — It was obvious that today’s start was a special one for New York Mets starter Sean Manaea, looking toward the skyas he walked off the mound to a thunderous applause upon being removed from the game in the eighth inning. The Citi Field fans could not have known that Manaea was pitching for a lot more than just his team’s quest to move one step closer to the National League Championship Series, as they uplifted a heavy heart in the process.
Manaea’s stellar start was buoyed by solo home runs from Pete Alonso and Jesse Winker as the Mets offense continued to pound out hits and produce quality at-bats on their way to a 7-2 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies during Game 3 of the National League Division Series inside Citi Field on Tuesday evening. New York has the opportunity to win its first-ever clinching game inside Citi Field during tomorrow’s Game 4.
Manaea was the lynchpin of a Mets starting rotation that had been the best in baseball over the last couple of months of the season, buoyed by a change in his arm slot just after the All-Star Break. The true test of his effectiveness came on Tuesday, as Manaea has been 0-3 with a 10.66 ERA in postseason games going into today, and he passed with flying colors as he struck out six and got key outs in tight situations, including when he induced Nick Castellanos into an inning-ending double play on a line out to second with the tying runs on base in the sixth. That occurred right after he struck out Bryce Harper for the first out of the inning.
“That was for my Aunt Mabel. Just got a message that she had passed away early this morning,” Manaea said. “So that game was for her.”
*Editor’s note: Above the byline is the photo gallery from Tuesday evening’s game, with photos taken by ALOST staff photographer Roberto Carlo. After clicking on a photo to enlarge the picture, press the left and right arrow buttons on either side of the caption to scroll through the rest of the pictures that appear on the first page. Also, click on the numbers and/or arrow appearing immediately below the picture grid to load the next set of photos. There are XX pictures in total.
Follow @Koiki_Sport Follow @ALOST_Official
