Mets beat Phillies behind Alonso, Manaea to take NLDS lead

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NEW YORK — Pete Alonso launched another homer off Aaron Nola, and Sean Manaea took a two-hit shutout into the eighth inning as the New York Mets beat the Philadelphia Phillies 7-2 on Tuesday in Game 3 of their NL Division Series.

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Jesse Winker also went deep and Starling Marte had a pivotal two-run single to help the wild-card Mets, playing their first home game in 16 days, grab a 2-1 lead in the best-of-five series.

Game 4 is Wednesday at Citi Field, with All-Star Ranger Suarez (12-8, 3.46 ERA) scheduled to start for Philadelphia against fellow lefty Jose Quintana (10-10, 3.75 ERA).

With a win, New York advances to the National League Championship Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers or San Diego Padres.

Manaea was lifted after allowing a leadoff single to start the eighth. The big left-hander, who blossomed into New York’s ace during the second half of the season, received hearty pats on the chest from teammates and a standing ovation from the towel-waving sellout crowd of 44,093 as he strolled off the mound.

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Manaea struck out six and walked two for his first playoff win after entering 0-3 with a 10.66 ERA in his postseason career.

Clinging to a 2-0 lead, Manaea escaped major trouble in the sixth. After issuing consecutive walks to start the inning, he received a mound visit from pitching coach Jeremy Hefner and struck out star slugger Bryce Harper on three off-speed pitches.

Nick Castellanos then lined into an inning-ending double play, as the Mets’ middle infield doubled off Kyle Schwarber at second base. A pumped-up Manaea screamed “Let’s go!” as he bounced off the mound.

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Alonso sent Nola’s first pitch of the second deep to right field. He flipped his bat high in the air on his way to first base when the ball reached the front row of the second deck.

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It was Alonso’s second home run of the series and third in New York’s past four playoff games. All of those have been to the opposite field — the slugger went the other way on only four of his 34 homers during the regular season.

Nola and Alonso have been squaring off since their college days in the Southeastern Conference, but the matchup has been one-sided in the majors. It was Alonso’s sixth career homer off the right-hander, after entering with a .320 batting average and 1.050 OPS in 54 career plate appearances against him.

Phillies manager Rob Thomson left Nola on the mound in the sixth to face Alonso, who drew New York’s second consecutive walk following Mark Vientos’ leadoff single.

With the bases loaded, Orion Kerkering replaced Nola and got two outs before Marte’s two-run single made it 4-0.

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Brandon Nimmo and Alonso drew back-to-back walks to load the bases again in the seventh before Jose Iglesias added a two-run single off Jose Ruiz with two outs.

Harper and Castellanos each hit an RBI single in the eighth before Ryne Stanek retired slumping Alec Bohm to end the inning.

Francisco Lindor, playing his first home game since Sept. 8 because of a back injury, delivered a run-scoring double in the bottom half to make it 7-2.

The exuberant Winker connected for a solo shot in the fourth and watched the whole way from home plate as his first career postseason homer soared into the second deck in right.

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Suarez, who went 2-0 with a 2.30 ERA in three outings against the Mets this season, had a 6.04 ERA in five September starts totaling only 22 1/3 innings. But he and the Phillies are confident he found a mechanical fix after Suarez threw well during an intrasquad game last week.

“What happens in September stays in September. It’s time to turn the page. I just forget about it,” Suarez said through a translator. “We’re October vibes.”

Quintana pitched six shutout innings at Milwaukee last Thursday, taking a no-decision in the decisive Game 3 of a Wild Card Series. He was 1-0 with a 2.81 ERA in three starts versus the Phillies this year and threw 5 1/3 scoreless innings of two-hit ball against them for St. Louis in the 2022 playoffs.

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