Mets 7, Phillies 2: New York takes 2-1 series lead in NLDS
The Mets are one win away from the NLCS. Tuesday evening at Citi Field, the Mets outlasted the Phillies in Game 3 of the NLDS, and once again shut down Philadelphia's offense through the first 6+ innings. Sean Manaea was brilliant, throwing seven innings plus one batter and getting tagged for a single run. He struck out six.
Pete Alonso opened the scoring with a solo homer in the second inning, his third opposite field blast in the last four games. Jesse Winker added a solo homer in the fourth. The Mets broke it open against the Philadelphia bullpen once Aaron Nola was out of the game. Starling Marte singled home two in the sixth, Jose Iglesias did the same in the seventh, then Francisco Lindor added another run in the eighth. The Mets have hit the Phillies' bullpen hard this series.
It was too little, too late by time the Phillies generated any offense. They scratched across two runs against New York's bullpen in the eighth inning -- one run was charged to Manaea -- to get to within 6-2, but the Phillies stranded runners on the corners. That was Philadelphia's best chance to get back into Game 3. They needed more than two runs there and didn't get them. The Mets seemed to get every big hit. The Phillies kept wasting opportunities.
The only silver lining for the Phillies is they forced the Mets to use some of their exhausted high leverage relievers. Phil Maton needed 23 pitches to get two outs and Ryne Stanek was asked to get the final four outs. Closer Edwin Díaz was able to get a rest -- he threw 130 pitches in the previous nine days -- though the setup crew could be compromised for Game 4 on Wednesday. That's the smallest of silver linings for Philadelphia.
The Mets will look to punch their ticket to the NLCS in Game 4 on Wednesday at Citi Field. Lefties Jose Quintana and Ranger Suárez are the scheduled starting pitchers. New York has not been to the NLCS since 2015.