Pete Alonso hit another home run off Aaron Nola, and Sean Manaea threw a two-hit shutout into the eighth inning as the New York Mets defeated the Philadelphia Phillies 7-2 on Tuesday in Game 3 of their NL Division Series.
Jesse Winker also homered, and Starling Marte contributed a key two-run single to help the wild-card Mets, who were playing their first home game in 16 days, take a 2-1 lead in the best-of-five series.
Game 4 will be on Wednesday, with All-Star Ranger Suárez set to start for Philadelphia against fellow lefty Jose Quintana. A win for New York would send them to the National League Championship Series to face the Los Angeles Dodgers or San Diego Padres.
The Mets have never celebrated a clinching victory at Citi Field, which opened in 2009.
“We’re looking to finish this and be done. They’re looking to try and extend the series and get back to Philadelphia. So it’s a battle of wills tomorrow and we’ll see what happens,” said New York outfielder Brandon Nimmo.
After reaching the 2022 World Series and Game 7 of last year’s NL Championship Series, the NL East champion Phillies are close to an early playoff exit against their rivals, the Mets.
“I know it got out that I had spoken to the team,” manager Rob Thomson said. “Basically it’s just very simple: You come in here tomorrow, and I told them it’s the most resilient club I’ve ever been around. That’s what they’re all about.
They’re all about toughness and fighting and playing together. That’s what we need to do, and just focus on one game.”
Manaea was taken out after giving up an infield single to start the eighth inning. The big left-hander, who became New York’s ace in the second half of the season, received warm pats on the chest from teammates and a standing ovation from the sellout crowd of 44,093 as he left the mound.
He raised his glove to his lips and looked up at the sky.
“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.”
With the help of Tyrone Taylor’s amazing throw from deep center field that got a runner out at second base in the fourth inning, Manaea earned his first playoff win after starting his postseason career 0-3 with a 10.66 ERA. He struck out six batters and walked two.
“Felt like he wanted this moment,” teammate Francisco Lindor said. “He gave everything he had.”
Holding onto a 2-0 lead, Manaea faced a tough situation in the sixth inning. After walking two batters in a row to start the inning, he had a visit from pitching coach Jeremy Hefner and then struck out star hitter Bryce Harper using three off-speed pitches.
“Just went right after it,” Manaea said.
Nick Castellanos then hit a line drive into an inning-ending double play, with the Mets’ middle infielders catching Kyle Schwarber off second base. A fired-up Manaea shouted “Let’s go!” as he left the mound.
Alonso hit the first pitch from Nola deep to right field. He tossed his bat high into the air as he ran to first base when the ball landed in the front row of the second deck.
This was Alonso’s second home run of the series and his third in New York’s last four playoff games. All of these home runs have gone to the opposite field, while he hit to the opposite side only four times in his 34 homers during the regular season.
“Wherever it goes out, if it does, I’m just happy it does,” Alonso said. “If I’m hitting balls the other way, it’s typically a good sign.”
Nola and Alonso have been competing against each other since their college days in the Southeastern Conference, but the matchup has favored Alonso in the majors. This was Alonso’s sixth career home run off Nola, and he entered the game with a .320 batting average and 1.050 OPS in 54 career plate appearances against him.
“He knows me. I know him,” Alonso said. “He’s a well-polished guy and he’s tough. I’m just happy I was able to come through for the team right there.”
Thomson kept Nola on the mound in the sixth to face Alonso, who earned New York’s second consecutive walk after Mark Vientos’ single at the start of the inning.
With the bases loaded, Orion Kerkering took over for Nola and got two outs before Marte hit a two-run single to make it 4-0.
In the seventh, Nimmo and Alonso both walked back-to-back, loading the bases again. Jose Iglesias then hit a two-run single off José Ruiz with two outs.
Harper and Castellanos both hit RBI singles in the eighth, but Ryne Stanek got the struggling Alec Bohm out to end the inning.
Lindor, playing his first home game since September 8 due to a back injury, hit a double that brought in a run in the bottom half, making it 7-2.
The excited Winker hit a solo home run in the fourth and watched as his first career postseason homer flew into the second deck in right field.
