Inspired Manaea, Alonso push Mets to Game 3 win
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Jorge Castillo, ESPN Staff Writer
NEW YORK — When his brilliant performance was finally over Tuesday, Sean Manaea gave the ball to his manager, said a few words to his infielders and began a different walk off the mound.
The crowd showered him with cheers, delighted with his dominance in the most important game of the wondrous 2024 New York Mets‘ season. His mind was elsewhere. He took a deep breath. He clapped his glove, tipped his hat to the adoring fans and blew two kisses. One toward them and one toward the sky.
“That was for my Aunt Mabel,” Manaea said. “Just got a message that she had passed away early this morning. And, yeah, so that game was for her.”
What he dedicated to her, given the context, was the best outing of his major league career in the Mets’ 7-2 win over the Philadelphia Phillies in Game 3 of the National League Division Series. The 32-year-old left-hander pitched into the eighth inning, affording the Mets much-needed length to spare a taxed bullpen. He held the Phillies, a star-studded group familiar with October intensity, to three hits and two walks with 91 pitches. The only run charged to him scored after he exited.
The start, combined with two early blasts and more late-inning magic, gave the Mets a 2-1 lead in the best-of-five series. The Mets can eliminate their division rival Phillies and advance to the National League Championship Series with a win in Game 4 on Wednesday.
“We’ve got to stay humble,” Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said. “We’ve got to come back tomorrow. We have to prepare, we go about our business pregame, and then we’ve got to go out there, we got to compete and we’ve got to go out there and execute. We’ll see what happens.”
The Mets had gone 16 days without a home game before Tuesday. They left for the road unsure if they would return in 2024 after beating the Phillies on Sept. 22, commencing a whirlwind stretch that took them from the regular season to the playoffs, from Atlanta to Milwaukee, back to Atlanta, back to Milwaukee and, finally, to Philadelphia to begin this series Saturday.
Citi Field was ready for their homecoming. A raucous sellout crowd welcomed them for the franchise’s first divisional round game since 2015. Seymour Weiner, a World War II veteran who became an internet sensation after being honored at a game in April, wished the team well in a message played on the videoboard. Grimace, the purple McDonald’s mascot and team good luck charm since throwing out the first pitch June 12, took the 7 train to the game and was introduced holding a pumpkin — a recent source of inspiration for first baseman Pete Alonso.
The place erupted when Alonso blasted a first-pitch fastball from Aaron Nola, an old nemesis going back to their college days as SEC foes, to right field for a solo home run in the second inning. It was Alonso’s third postseason home run. All have been to the opposite field after he hit just four of his 34 homers in the regular season the other way.
“It’s more so just hitting the ball where it’s pitched and hitting the ball on the sweet spot of the bat,” Alonso said. “That’s pretty much all I’m trying to do every single AB.”
Jesse Winker doubled the Mets’ lead by launching a fastball from Nola to the second deck down the right-field line. New York tacked on two runs in the sixth, two in the seventh and another in the eighth to give the bullpen ample cushion after Manaea departed.
Manaea’s outing was not without turbulence. It surfaced in the sixth inning in the form of two walks to the top of the Phillies’ lineup to begin the frame, bringing up two-time MVP Bryce Harper and giving his manager a difficult decision. At that point, Mendoza was leaning toward removing Manaea after he faced Harper, a left-handed hitter, to avoid having him pitch to the right-handed Nick Castellanos for a third time.
Then Manaea started attacking again. He struck out Harper on three pitches — a rare left-on-left changeup and two sweepers. The rebound persuaded Mendoza to stick with him.
“Once he got Harper there,” Mendoza said, “I thought he had momentum back.”
Manaea didn’t stop attacking, jumping ahead 0-2 as Castellanos fouled off two pitches. Castellanos lined the third, a changeup out of the strike zone, to second baseman Jose Iglesias, who flipped the ball to shortstop Francisco Lindor at second base for a game-changing, inning-ending double play. Manaea unleashed two roars as Citi Field exploded around him.
“He was on the attack,” Mendoza said. “It was a different look today. … His mound presence, his demeanor, like there was something different about him today. I’m just proud of him.”
Manaea, whose midseason shift to a lower arm slot has netted rousing success before he hits free agency this winter, exacted some revenge with Tuesday’s outing. Two years ago, pitching for the San Diego Padres, the Phillies tagged him for five runs in 1⅓ innings out of the bullpen in Game 4 of the NLDS. The appearance concluded the worst season of his career. Desperate for answers, he emailed Driveline Baseball, the popular data-driven player development organization, that night.
“That moment for me was rock bottom pretty much,” Manaea said.
On Tuesday, he was at his peak on a day he will never forget.
CHICAGO — The Chicago Cubs and free agent Colin Rea have agreed to a one-year, $5 million contract, reuniting the right-hander with manager Craig Counsell, a source told ESPN’s Jesse Rogers on Friday.
The 34-year-old Rea made one appearance with Milwaukee in 2021 and then pitched in Japan during the 2022 season before returning to the Brewers. He went 12-6 with a 4.29 ERA over 27 starts and five relief appearances for the NL Central champions last year.
Counsell managed Milwaukee for nine years before he was hired by Chicago in November 2023.
Rea gives Counsell and Chicago another versatile arm for their pitching staff. The Cubs have Justin Steele, Shota Imanaga, Jameson Taillon and Matthew Boyd for their rotation, but Rea could push Javier Assad for the fifth spot or work out of the bullpen.
Rea became a free agent when Milwaukee declined its $5.5 million club option on his contract in November. The Iowa native was paid a $1 million buyout.
Rea was selected by San Diego in the 12th round of the 2011 amateur draft out of Indiana State. He made his big league debut with the Padres in 2015.
He pitched for the Cubs during the 2020 season, going 1-1 with a 5.79 ERA in nine appearances, including two starts.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
NEW YORK — Major League Baseball has banned two fans who interfered with Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Mookie Betts during a World Series game at Yankee Stadium from attending games at big league ballparks.
The league sent a letter to Austin Capobianco and John P. Hansen this week informing them of the decision.
“On Oct. 29, 2024, during Game 4 of the World Series at Yankee Stadium, you interfered with play by intentionally and forcefully grabbing a player. Your conduct posed a serious risk to the health and safety of the player and went far over the line of acceptable fan behavior,” said the letter, the contents of which were first reported by the New York Post and later obtained by The Associated Press.
“Based on your conduct, Major League Baseball is banning you indefinitely from all MLB stadiums, offices, and other facilities,” the letter said. “You are also hereby banned indefinitely from attending any events sponsored by or associated with MLB. Please be advised that if you are discovered at any MLB property or event, you will be removed from the premises and subject to arrest for trespass.”
MLB has previously issued leaguewide bans for fans who trespass on the field or threaten baseball personnel. A fan who approached Atlanta Braves star Ronald Acuna Jr. at Colorado’s Coors Field in 2023 received a similar ban.
Capobianco and Hansen were ejected from the game on Oct. 29 and banned from Game 5 the following night.
Betts leaped at the retaining wall in foul territory and caught Gleyber Torres‘ pop fly in the first inning, but a fan in the first row with a gray Yankees road jersey grabbed Betts’ glove with both hands and pulled the ball out. Another fan grabbed Betts’ bare hand.
The Yankees at the time called the behavior “egregious and unacceptable.”
The team said Friday the two fans MLB banned were not season-ticket holders. The Post reported Friday that the person who is the season ticket holder was not at the game and will be allowed to keep them.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
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