Before the sixth inning, Sean Manaea was making quick work of the Cleveland Guardians as the Mets left-hander held them scoreless through five innings on Monday night at Citi Field.
In fact, it looked like Manaea was on his way to another superb outing with a pitch count low enough that would enable him to go deep into the game, which would not only allow New York's bullpen some more rest, but also check off an important step in the Mets' attempt at stretching him out following injury.
Yet, as quickly as Manaea was disposing of the Guardians earlier, that's how fast they got to him in the sixth. After three singles, a hit by pitch and a wild pitch, suddenly, Cleveland had a 2-0 lead.
"It happened fast," manager Carlos Mendoza said. "Solid through five -- like dominating. First couple of guys get on, then (flyout) to Jose Ramirez, and then we get down 2-0, and you still feel like, ‘alright he’s in a good position to get out of this.'"
But on the second pitch thrown to Gabriel Arias, a 1-0 changeup left up in the strike zone, Arias parked it 440 feet to center field for a massive three-run bomb that quickly destroyed Manaea's night and put the Mets in a 5-0 hole.
After the game, Manaea, keeping it brief, said all the things that a starting pitcher would say after giving up a five-run inning like "I didn’t execute" and "no way around it, that sucks."
Manaea ended up going a season-high 5.2 innings, but allowed five runs on seven hits while striking out three.
Nevertheless, after Manaea's outing, New York persevered and was able to fight back almost immediately. Pete Alonso's 251st career home run, one shy of tying Darryl Strawberry's franchise record, got three runs back in the bottom half of the sixth, and just like that, the Mets were back in it.
They would tie it in the eighth with Alonso in the middle of it again, singling home a run to make it 5-4 before a sac fly by Mark Vientos evened things up. Unfortunately, New York was never able to take the lead despite multiple chances, including loading the bases with one out in the ninth.
It was Alonso, already 4-for-4, who came up to the plate with the bases loaded. A hit (or sac fly) would've won the game; a home run would've tied the record and caused chaos at Citi Field. Instead, Alonso struck out before Jeff McNeil lined out, which sent the game to extra innings.
"We had really good at-bats throughout and then just couldn’t get that last one there to finish the game," Mendoza said.
In the 10th inning, Brett Baty made an error on a bunt attempt, getting to the ball quickly but then throwing it wide of Francisco Lindor at second base. Mendoza said it was the right decision to keep the double play in order, but Baty's errant throw brought home a run for the Guardians and led to their second run of the inning, which turned out to be the game-winning run.
"I just gotta make a better throw on that play," Baty said. "The bunt was kind of up in the air, so I knew the runners were gonna have a tough read on it just because it went straight up into the air, and then I got it on one hop, and I gotta make a better throw than that."
But even after losing a tough one, Alonso pointed to the fight he saw from his team.
When asked how discouraging a loss like that can be, the first baseman thought the opposite.
"I think to be honest, it’d be more frustrating if we didn’t do anything, if we just kind of laid down right there," Alonso said, looking on the bright side. "... It was a good team comeback... There was a lot of positives. I know we didn’t get the W, but there’s a lot of positives because I think it would be more concerning if we had just kinda got blown out. But for us to battle back and keep fighting that’s a lot of good signs."
