Orange rally towels — of the same shade as Pete Alonso’s Playoff Pumpkin — twirled throughout Citi Field on Tuesday as Sean Manaea departed the mound in the eighth inning.
The left-hander blew a kiss to the sky (directed toward his Aunt Mabel, whom he learned had passed away earlier in the day) and disappeared into the first-base dugout.
The Mets were rolling in large part because of Manaea, and the acknowledgement from the sellout crowd of 44,093 was warranted following one of his best performances yet with the team and certainly on the biggest stage.
Manaea mastered the Phillies with one run allowed over seven innings, carrying the Mets to a 7-2 victory in Game 3 of the NLDS.
One victory separates the Mets from the National League Championship Series, and there are two roads to arrive there.
The easy road would entail beating the Phillies in Game 4 on Wednesday and enjoying downtime before heading to the west coast to face the Padres or Dodgers.
The harder route means losing Wednesday and needing to win a Game 5 back in Philadelphia.
The Mets have never clinched a postseason berth or series at home in the 16 seasons of Citi Field’s existence.
“We want to be able to go out there and celebrate and win,” Starling Marte said.
Manaea allowed only three hits and struck out six with two walks and two hit batters over seven-plus innings and 91 pitches.
It was the best outing by a Mets starting pitcher this postseason and alleviated the pressure on a bullpen that was bloodied in a Game 2 loss on Sunday.
“I haven’t had the most amazing career,” Manaea said. “But through the ups and downs and through the hardships, that’s what makes games like this mean so much. It’s part of the work I’ve been able to do, not just myself, the whole team.”
Manager Carlos Mendoza allowed Manaea to return to the mound for the eighth after seven shutout innings.
But after Edmundo Sosa reached on an infield single leading off the inning, Manaea was removed.
Phil Maton and Ryne Stanek combined to get three outs in the inning with two runs scoring.
Alonso homered leading off the second to produce the game’s first run.
home run during the second inning. Charles Wenzelberg / New York Post
Alonso’s blast was his sixth in 51 career at-bats against Aaron Nola, his most facing any pitcher, and his third in four games beginning with Thursday’s go-ahead shot in Milwaukee that helped the Mets clinch the NL Wild Card Series.
Jesse Winker’s homer with two outs in the fourth gave the Mets a 2-0 lead. In his previous at-bat, Winker just missed clearing the right-field fence, with Nick Castellanos racing to the wall for the catch.
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But in the fourth, Winker left no doubt after jumping on a 2-1 fastball.
The Phillies threatened against Manaea in the third: Sosa was plunked and Trea Turner delivered a two-out single.
But Manaea escaped the threat by getting Bryce Harper on a comebacker.
Manaea got defensive help in the fourth, when Tyrone Taylor threw out Alec Bohm attempting to stretch a single into a double.
Manaea celebrated as he left the mound in the sixth, after Castellanos’ line drive to Jose Iglesias became an inning-ending double play.
Manaea walked Kyle Schwarber and Turner in succession to begin the inning, but struck out Harper before Schwarber was caught off second on Castellanos’ liner.
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Mendoza said he considered removing Manaea after the two walks.
“But then he got Harper there, I thought he had his momentum back.” Mendoza said. “I have always liked his presence and especially today, his demeanor on the mound. He was always on the attack, from the first pitch.”
Marte stroked a two-run single in the sixth that widened the gap to 4-0.
Mark Vientos singled leading off the inning and Brandon Nimmo and Alonso walked in succession to load the bases, ending Nola’s outing.
Orion Kerkering entered and got two outs without a run scoring, but Marte delivered.
Manaea responded by retiring the side in order in the seventh, including a strikeout of Austin Hays to end the inning.
“He trusted his stuff,” Mendoza said. “He trusted the game plan and didn’t back away from it.”
Iglesias gave the Mets a cushion by swatting a two-run single in the bottom of the inning that extended the lead to 6-0.
Vientos singled in the inning and Nimmo and Alonso each walked to load the bases.
“When you put the ball in play good things happen and it shows there for Marte, it shows there for me,” Iglesias said. “The whole team did a great job competing that inning. It was pretty special.”
