Sean Manaea had Nick Castellanos in a 1-2 count in the first inning Tuesday when he lined a two-run double into the left-field corner. The count was 1-2 again an inning later when Otto Lopez homered. Next up was Harrison Bader, who hit a hanging sweeper 358 feet for a 4-0 Phillies lead.

Manaea, who has given up four earned runs or more in six of his last seven outings, was visibly upset in the dugout after the second inning when Carlos Mendoza pulled him into the tunnel for a word.

“It was just more like he was showing a little bit of his frustrations there, which you understand, but at the same time, you gotta fight, you gotta fight,” the manager said.

Manaea (1-3) went back to the mound and threw three scoreless frames. He struck out the side in the fifth, fanning Bader, Kyle Schwarber and Bryce Harper.

“Just said ‘Screw it,'” the lefty said after his ERA spiked to 5.76 over 50 innings pitched. “Can’t get any worse and I just let go and started pitching.”

He said Mendoza’s encouragement was helpful.

“Yeah, Mendy believes in me so why can’t I believe in myself? And it was just kind of a message to just go out there and we are gonna do this thing and it’s nice to hear from the leader of this team.”

Photo Credit: Jay Biggerstaff-Imagn Images

Manaea’s mid-game turnaround came too late. The Mets lost 9-3 to fall nine games back of the Phillies with 17 to play. New York (76-69) is clinging to a two-game lead over the Giants (74-71) for the last playoff spot, with the Reds, Cardinals and Diamondbacks lurking behind as well.

Mendoza was asked if the Mets would make the playoffs.

“We will,” he said. “We will. We gotta play better. We gotta fight. We’re in the middle of it. There’s no time to feel sorry or it’s, we gotta fight. What’s in the past is in the past and we gotta continue to take it one day at a time.”

“We just gotta do our thing,” Manaea said. “It’s a tough hill to climb right now, but the boys in here are ready for that challenge, so we just gotta put things together, and I think we have the group to do that.”

The manager said his words to Manaea can be applied to the whole team, which has lost four in a row.

“I’m glad that he was able to respond to it,” Mendoza said. “I was proud of him for that, but I think that’s a message for all of us here. We are in the middle of it, and we gotta fight, and I’m glad that he was able to do that.

“This is a guy that we’re counting on. He was huge for us last year. I know it’s been a struggle for him, and obviously, he’s frustrated too. But we are gonna need this guy. We brought this guy in here to make an impact and our job is to continue to help him. Obviously, the last three innings were a lot better, and hopefully he can take some positives out of this outing from that.”

Manaea said, “The last three innings felt really, really good. Definitely something to build off of. I’m definitely happy with those three innings, but obviously the first two weren’t great. It’s hard to put into words. I’m very, very frustrated with myself and for it to continue like this is very, very frustrating.”

Mendoza was asked if Manaea would make his next start.

“As of right now, yeah.”