On Tuesday, as Sean Manaea took the mound in the bottom of the eighth inning, an orange rally towel the same shade as Pete Alonso's playoff pumpkin spun around Citi Field.
The left-hander blew a kiss into the air and disappeared into the first base dugout.
The Mets' good run was largely due to Manaea, and the praise from the sold-out crowd of 44,093 was well-deserved following what was probably the team's best performance ever, and certainly his performance on the biggest stage. It was about.
Manaea dominated the Phillies in Game 3 of the National League, giving up one run in seven innings, leading the Mets to a 7-2 victory.
The Mets are one win away from the National League Championship Series, but there are two paths to getting there.
The easy path would be to beat the Phillies in Game 4 on Wednesday and enjoy some downtime before heading to the West Coast to face either the Dodgers or Padres.
A more difficult route would mean losing on Wednesday and needing to win Game 5 in Philadelphia.
Manaea threw 91 pitches over seven innings, giving batters only three hits, two walks, and two hits with six strikeouts.
It was the best pitch by a Mets starting pitcher this postseason, and it took pressure off a bullpen that was left bloodied in Sunday's Game 2 loss.
Manager Carlos Mendoza allowed Manaea, who pitched a shutout in the seventh inning, to return to the mound for the eighth inning.
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However, after Edmundo Sosa led off with an infield hit in the first inning, Manaea was ejected.
Phil Mayton and Ryne Stanek combined to get three outs and score two points in the first inning.
Alonso hit a home run in the second inning, giving him the first run of the game.
Alonso's at-bat is his sixth of 51 total at-bats with Aaron Nola, the most by a pitcher, starting with Thursday's lead-off in Milwaukee, which helped the Mets win the NL Wild Card Series. This will be his third at-bat in four games.
With two outs in the fourth inning, Jesse Winker's home run gave the Mets a 2-0 lead.
In the previous at-bat, Winker was unable to get over the right-field fence and Nick Castellanos ran to the wall to make the catch.
But in the fourth inning, Winker left no doubt after pouncing on a 2-1 fastball.
The Phillies posed a threat against Manaea in the third inning. Sosa took a plank and Trea Turner hit a two-out single.
However, Manaea avoided the threat by bringing in Bryce Harper as a comeback player.
Manaea got some defensive help in the fourth inning when Tyrone Taylor threw out Alec Bohm as he tried to stretch a single into a double.
Manaea celebrated while getting off the mound in the sixth inning after Castellanos' hit to Jose Iglesias resulted in an inning-ending double play.
Manaea gave consecutive walks to Kyle Schwarber and Trea Turner in the first inning, but struck out Harper before Schwarber was caught at second base on Castellanos' liner.
In the 6th inning, Starling Marte hit a two-run homer, increasing the lead to 4-0.
Mark Vientos hit a leadoff single in the first inning, and Brandon Nimmo and Alonso loaded the bases with consecutive walks, stopping Nola's batting lineup.
Orion Kerkeling came on and got two outs without a score, but Marte made the kill.
Manaea responded by having his teams retire in order in the seventh inning, including a strikeout of Austin Hayes to end the inning.
Iglesias hit a two-run single in the bottom of the inning, extending the lead to 6-0 and giving the Mets some cushion. In the first inning, Vientos singled, and Nimmo and Alonso each walked to load the bases.
Harper and Castellanos each had RBI hits in the eighth inning, pulling the Phillies within 6-2.
Francisco Lindor, playing his first home game in exactly a month since a back injury and the team's extended road trip, extended the Mets' lead with an RBI double in the eighth inning.
