LOS ANGELES — Sean Manaea mostly sailed through five innings of his Game 2 start before unraveling, unable to find the strike zone and pulled after two walks and a ground ball.
In the aftermath, he acknowledged he hit “a wall.”
That wall might as well have been concrete Sunday.
The Mets’ best pitcher for months had nothing left after a season that will end with 36 total starts and 200 ²/₃ innings, both career highs.
Manaea, bruised by workload, was battered by the Dodgers in the NLCS- and season-ending 10-5 loss at Dodger Stadium.
Beginning on July 30, when Manaea dropped his arm slot, through Sept. 21, the lefty lasted at least 6 ²/₃ innings for 10 of 11 starts.
He emerged as not just an ace but a workhorse whom the Mets leaned on.
Under the stresses of a burden he had never experienced before, Manaea was running on empty during an outing in which he recorded just six outs.
The pitching-desperate Mets needed length and got none, Manaea allowing five runs on six hits and two walks in his two-plus innings.
He was in trouble from the very start, facing seven Dodgers batters in a 34-pitch first that foretold doom.
Tommy Edman’s two-run double was the run-scorer, but the at-bats that would not end — like an eight-pitch walk to Kiké Hernandez — were nearly as damaging to the Mets and Manaea’s hopes.
After another lengthy if scoreless second, Manaea faced three batters in the third and retired none.
Edman hammered a two-run homer that put the Mets in a deep hole, and a walk to Max Muncy prompted a pitching change.
After Phil Maton let up a two-run homer to Will Smith, another run could be charged to Manaea.
If this was the end of Manaea’s Mets career, he would not be remembered for his last dud.
A free-agent find after a rough season with the Giants last year, Manaea grew into the Mets’ best arm and carried the rotation throughout his dominant second-half run.
He had a poor postseason history, which he put to bed by pitching well against the Brewers; he had a poor playoff history against the Phillies, which he put to bed by dominating them; he had a poor track record against the Dodgers, which he put to bed with an effective start in Game 2.
But Manaea, a pending free agent presuming he declines a player option, had nothing left to give, which meant the Mets had virtually no chance at pulling off the comeback.