With the offense sputtering without Francisco Lindor, Sean Manaea kept the Mets in the game until the offense could come through.
The lefty starter delivered seven solid innings, allowing just one earned run on four hits and a walk and tallying six strikeouts, setting the Mets up for a 2-1, 10-inning win over the Nationals on Monday night at Citi Field.
“Yeah, that’s where it starts. It starts on the mound,” Carlos Mendoza said about his pitchers giving the lineup opportunities to breakthrough. “But also the defense that are playing behind those guys. So, Manaea today was really, really good again. And then the bullpen. … We’re doing a lot of good things right.”
In his last 18 starts, Manaea has allowed three runs or fewer in 16 starts, and he’s gone at least 6 ²/₃ innings in nine of 10 starts.
After retiring the first six batters he faced, Manaea ran into some trouble in the top of the third inning after Keibert Ruiz led offf with a single and Jacob Young reached on an infield single.
After Nasim Nunez popped out to third, the Mets nearly got out of it with a double play that Manaea said was “one of the coolest things” he’s ever seen on the field as second baseman Eddy Alvarez flipped it backhand from his glove to shortstop Jose Iglesias.
But Dylan Crews beat out the return throw, leaving runners on third and first.
However, Manaea got out of it by striking out James Wood on three nasty sinkers, clapping his fist and glove together while walking off the mound.
“You can definitely feel it,” Manaea said of how different the final two weeks of the regular season feels. “As far as I’m concerned, we’re definitely in a playoff atmosphere. I think you gotta take it like that every day, and it’s one more ball game where it’s huge if you can get on top. It was a very exciting win.”
The Nationals broke through in the fourth as Jose Tena drove in Juan Yepez, who led off with a double.
But Manaea allowed just one more baserunner — on a walk — over his final three innings.
Manaea admitted he was checking on the Braves game and, upon hearing of their NL East rival losing 9-0 to the Dodgers, said: “Cool, let’s keep it going. … I’ve always dreamt of being in a position like this and to help this team win was huge, and just kind of soaking up every moment.”