Mets prevent Phillies from clinching NL East with 6-3 win behind Sean Manaea and Francisco Alvarez

NEW YORK (AP) — Sean Manaea won his fourth straight decision, Brandon Nimmo hit a tiebreaking single in a three-run seventh inning and the New York Mets beat Philadelphia 6-3 on Saturday to prevent the Phillies from clinching the NL East title.

Francisco Alvarez and Luisangel Acuña hit second-inning home runs that put the Mets ahead 2-1. Alvarez added a two-run double in the seventh against Orion Kerkering (5-3) for a 5-2 lead, and Edwin Díaz got a four-out save.

New York (86-69) won for the 17th time in 22 games. The Mets remained two games ahead of Atlanta for the final NL wild card and improved to 5-1 on their seven-game homestand minus star shortstop Francisco Lindor (sore back). They are one game back of Arizona for the second wild cad.

“Yeah, we lost a guy that is in the MVP conversation," manager Carlos Mendoza said, “but hey, we've got to keep going. ... We haven’t done anything. We've still got a lot of important games here.”

A crowd of 44,152 filled Citi Field, just the fourth sellout this season after opening day and a pair of Subway Series games against the Yankees.

“It felt unbelievable today,” said Nimmo, who had urged fans to turn out. “It was high energy. Every pitch mattered and the crowd was in it the whole time.”

Philadelphia (92-63), which has lost two of the first three games of the four-game series, can secure its first NL East title since 2011 with a victory over the Mets on Sunday night. The Phillies clinched no worse than a wild card on Friday.

“We want to be able to get our division," slugger Kyle Schwarber said.

Manaea (12-5) retired 21 of 24 batters, allowing Schwarber’s record 15th leadoff home run of the season, Nick Castellanos’ tying homer in the fifth and J.T. Realmuto’s leadoff single in the eighth. The 32-year-old left-hander never pitched from the stretch, allowing three runs and three hits in seven-plus innings while striking out six. Manaea lasted at least 6 2/3 innings for the eighth straight start.

Cal Stevenson’s RBI grounder off Reed Garrett in the eighth pulled the Phillies within two runs. Díaz threw a called third strike past Schwarber on a full-count fastball and finished for his 19th save in 25 chances, his third four-out save this season.

With the score 2-all, Kerkering walked Starling Marte leading off the seventh and with one out hit Pete Alonso on the left shoulder blade with a 97 mph pitch.

Nimmo lofted a single into left-center for a 3-2 lead, ending the Mets’ 0-for-14 streak with runners in scoring position. Nimmo stole second and Alvarez doubled just beyond the glove of left fielder Weston Wilson, who tried for a diving catch.

Alvarez hit a 113.8 mph drive for his 11th home run this season and fifth in nine games. Acuña’s homer was the third in his first 24 big league at-bats.

Alonso added an RBI single in the eighth when his two-out pop fly to short center fell between Stevenson and second baseman Bryson Stott, who each thought the other would catch the ball.

Phillies starter Ranger Suárez allowed five hits and three walks in five innings. His fastball velocity averaged 92.5 mph, an increase of 0.7 mph.

“I made some adjustments that have helped me get my velocity back,” Suárez said though a translator.

New York benched J.D. Martinez, in a career-worst 0-for-31 slide. Mark Vientos stuck out a career-worst five times.

The Mets finished 5-5 this season in their new gray City Connect jerseys.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Phillies: OF Austin Hayes (kidney infection), sidelined since Sept. 1, was 2 for 5 with two strikeouts as the DH in his first game of a rehab assignment for Triple-A Lehigh Valley. He is scheduled to play left field on Sunday. ... RHP Spencer Turnbull (strained right lat) is slated for a rehab outing with the IronPigs in their season finale Sunday.

Mets: RHP Kodai Senga pitched a hitless inning with a walk and two strikeouts for Triple-A Syracuse in his first rehab outing since straining his left calf in his season debut on July 26. He threw eight of 15 pitches for strikes. Senga missed the first half of the season because of a capsule shoulder strain that had sidelined him since spring training. ... RHP Paul Blackburn (spinal fluid leak in back) won’t pitch during the rest of the regular season, Mendoza said.

UP NEXT

Zack Wheeler (16-6, 2.56 ERA) starts for the Phillies against his former team in Sunday night’s series finale. RHP Tylor Megill (4-5, 4.08) goes for the Mets.

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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb

The Associated Press