Mets' Sean Manaea sharp again in dramatic win over Blue Jays
Sean Manaea of the Mets pitches to the Toronto Blue Jays during the first inning in their MLB game at the Rogers Centre on Wednesday in Toronto. Credit: Getty Images/Mark Blinch
TORONTO — Here’s a telling takeaway from the Mets’ 6-2 win Wednesday: For Sean Manaea, limiting the Blue Jays to one run in 6 2/3 innings represented just another outing. Ho-hum. His usual.
“He’s doing that every day now,” catcher Francisco Alvarez said.
Such is life lately for Manaea, who lowered his ERA to 3.35. He has lasted at least 6 2/3 innings in eight of his past nine starts.
“I’ve been wanting to do this my whole career,” he said. “I just want to help this team win. Going deep into the games is such a huge accomplishment. To be able to do it consistently is something I’m very, very proud of.”
Manaea cruised for virtually the entire outing aside from a six-pitch hiccup in the bottom of the fourth.
The Blue Jays loaded the bases with no outs via Vladimir Guerrero Jr.’s first-pitch single, Ernie Clement’s first-pitch single and Will Wagner’s four-pitch walk. After Davis Schneider’s run-scoring grounder to third, though, Manaea retired the next two batters to avoid further damage.
The Mets needed every out, too, given that Toronto righthander Bowden Francis took a no-hit bid into the ninth.
“It wasn’t like I was beating myself up. It just happened to be. I just gotta keep making pitches and continue to do that. That was huge,” Manaea said. “It’s a tough league out here, so just trying to do the best I could. Fortunately, we scraped by a couple runs there in the ninth and it was pretty cool.”
Manager Carlos Mendoza said: “Manaea after that (bases-loaded jam) just continued to make pitches. He was really, really good.”
If the Mets keep Manaea on an every-five-days scheduled instead of an every-five-games schedule — which would allow him to face Atlanta in the last week of the regular season — he would pitch again Monday versus the Nationals. It would be his fourth consecutive start on regular rest, territory the Mets don’t usually like to go.
9/11 remembrances
Francisco Lindor wore a specially made glove in honor of first responders for the anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. It featured the logos and colors of the NYPD, FDNY, Port Authority Police, Department of Sanitation and Department of Correction.
Francisco Lindor of the Mets wears a glove commemorate first responders on the anniversary of 9/11 while playing the Toronto Blue Jays in their MLB game at the Rogers Centre on Wednesday in Toronto. Credit: Getty Images/Mark Blinch
“It’s very pressing in every one of our minds,” Lindor said of the occasion. “For every New Yorker, it’s extremely special. For every American, it should be extremely special and a day that we get to remember the ones that we lost that day.”
The Mets and Blue Jays also wore hats representing those first-responder agencies, a tradition revived by the Pete Alonso-led lobbying in 2020.
Blackburn update
The Mets sent righthander Paul Blackburn back to New York to have his back examined. He will be out indefinitely, with Tylor Megill slated to keep his spot in the rotation.
As the rotation turns
The Mets will stick with Jose Quintana and Luis Severino, in that order, for Friday and Saturday, the first two games against the Phillies.
Sunday likely will be David Peterson — flipped ahead of Megill — but the Mets planned to wait before making that official.
Tim Healey is the Mets beat writer for Newsday. Born on Long Island and raised in Connecticut, Tim has previously worked for the South Florida Sun Sentinel, the Boston Globe and MLB.com. He is also the author of “Hometown Hardball,” a book about minor league baseball in the northeast.
