Sean Manaea’s first pitch Thursday afternoon was a four-seam fastball over the middle of the plate, and Lane Thomas sent it over the left-field wall for a leadoff home run. Aside from that swing, Manaea’s first three innings were quiet. The only other ball Kansas City hit above 90 mph was a 104.4 mph lineout by Thomas in the third.
Bobby Witt Jr. produced the Royals’ other earned run with a solo homer to begin the fourth, restoring a 2-1 lead after Jared Young had tied the game with an RBI double. From the batter after Witt through the first two outs of the seventh, Manaea retired 10 of 11 Royals. The exception was Tyler Tolbert’s two-out infield single in the fifth, and Manaea got him out moments later with a pickoff throw that was initially a safe call before being overturned by a Mets challenge.
Kansas City made him work again with two outs in the seventh. Nick Loftin singled and reached second when Juan Soto misplayed the ball in left field, then Jac Caglianone doubled him home. Manaea issued his only walk to Isaac Collins before getting Tolbert to bunt softly to catcher Luis Torrens for the final out.
Manaea finished the Mets’ 7-3 win with three runs allowed (two earned) on six hits over seven innings. He struck out six, walked one and threw 97 pitches, improving to 2-4 with a 4.56 ERA and 74 strikeouts in 75 innings. Both home runs came with the bases empty, and the Royals never scored more than once in an inning.
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“He’s been amazing,” interim manager Andy Green said postgame. “Outings like that set you up to win tomorrow’s baseball game.”
Manaea’s pitch selection differed considerably from his season norm. He threw 33 sinkers, 27 four-seamers, 24 sweepers, 11 cutters and two changeups. Entering the game, he had used his four-seamer 35.4 percent of the time, his sweeper 31.8 percent and his sinker only 19.8 percent. Against Kansas City, the sinker rose to roughly 34 percent, while the four-seamer fell to about 28 percent and the sweeper to 25 percent.
His poor April still weighs on his overall season line, but Manaea has now posted a sub-4.00 ERA in three consecutive months. Thursday’s start continued that improvement while allowing the Mets to keep most of the bullpen out of the game.
Manaea also received the kind of support that has often been missing when Mets starters have pitched well.
The lineup gave him a lead in the fifth, beginning with Tyrone Taylor’s game-tying home run. Brett Baty and A.J. Ewing followed with singles before Soto walked and Bo Bichette put the Mets ahead with a sacrifice fly. Carson Benge’s single and a Thomas throwing error brought home two more runs. Francisco Alvarez added an RBI single, and Soto homered in the seventh for the final run.
“I think we are playing really good baseball right now,” Manaea said.
The Mets are still 40-54 and fifth in the NL East, so Thursday’s win obviously does little to alter the course of the overall season. Manaea’s comment was nevertheless an accurate description of how the Mets played on Thursday. New York erased two separate one-run deficits, Manaea worked through seven innings, and the bullpen was needed for only the final six outs.
