Sean Manaea wishes he had one pitch back.
The lefty had a season-high 10 strikeouts, but failed to wiggle out of a third-inning jam, giving up a grand slam to Christian Walker with two outs that broke a scoreless tie and the Arizona Diamondbacks went on to a 10-5 victory over the New York Mets (24-34) at Citi Field.
Mark Vientos hit a solo homer in the fifth, raising the apple in center field, which had been redecorated to a strawberry in honor of Darryl Strawberry. The Mets retired his number 18 in a pre-game ceremony.
May 26, 2024; New York City, New York, USA; New York Mets starting pitcher Sean Manaea (59) pitches in the first inning against the San Francisco Giants at Citi Field. Mandatory Credit: Wendell Cruz-USA TODAY Sports
Manaea (3-2) got himself in trouble by giving up a single, a walk and a double steal to start the third. He battled back with strikeouts of Ketel Marte and Corbin Carroll. But after a walk to Randal Grichuk, Walker’s 12th homer of the season gave Arizona a 4-0 lead.
Blaze Alexander added an RBI single for Arizona in the sixth and then scored from second on a wild pitch and a Tomás Nido throwing error. Josh Walker‘s pitch sailed over Nido’s head, but the carom from the backstop came right back to the catcher, who thought he had a chance to throw out Alexander at third. But Nido’s throw went into left field, allowing Alexander to score. Arizona led 6-1. The Diamondbacks (26-32) added two runs apiece in the seventh and eighth innings.
Down 10-1, the Mets scored four runs in the ninth, highlighted by a Pete Alonso two-run home run, his 13th of the season. The late rally forced Arizona to bring in closer Paul Sewald with two outs and a runner on first. He got J.D. Martinez to fly out to end the game.
Francisco Lindor extended his hitting streak to 11 games with a line drive that hit the top of the right field wall in the first inning. He was thrown out by Grichuk trying to stretch the hit into a double. Lindor is hitting .383 (18-for-47) during the streak.
Manaea became the first Met pitcher to reach double digits in strikeouts this season. New York was looking for its third straight win. They have not won three in a row since winning six consecutive games from April 14-20.
Stat of the Game
Darryl Strawberry holds the Mets’ home run record with 252 and is fifth all-time in stolen bases with 191. He was the 1983 Rookie of the Year, the 1988 National League home run champ, and an All-Star seven times in his eight Mets seasons.
Player of the Game
It was Strawberry’s Day. What a swing. His speech was emotional at times. Shout out to Mark Vientos for his 440-foot, Strawberry-esque home run.
On Deck
Jose Quintana (1-5, 5.06 ERA) will face Brandon Pfaadt (2-4, 4.16 ERA) in a 1:40 p.m. ET start at Citi Field. The game will air on WPIX. Major League Baseball celebrates Lou Gehrig Day leaguewide to raise awareness of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. June 2nd marks the 99th anniversary of Gehrig’s starting at first base and the 83rd anniversary of his death from ALS complications. He played in 2,130 consecutive games, an MLB record that stood until Cal Ripken Jr. broke it in 1995.
