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. 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.
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. 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.
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