SEATTLE — Sean Manaea arrived in Seattle this weekend having thrown 14 straight scoreless innings. Having pitched in the AL West for six seasons, he was familiar with the confines of T-Mobile Park and a good history there, having posted a 3.09 ERA in 10 career starts in the home of the Mariners.
Then he got on the mound and promptly gave up back-to-back doubles to put the Mets in a 2-0 hole before recording a single out.
The lefty would go on to give up a third run in the inning and the Mets lost, 4-0, getting shut out for the second straight night, but the blame didn’t fall solely on Manaea. Mariners right-hander Logan Gilbert was outstanding in the win, holding the Mets to only three hits over seven innings.
“The fastball was electric,” said manager Carlos Mendoza. “The way he used it in the corners up and down, and then this split and slider — pretty much had everything working today.”
Gilbert gave up two hits to Francisco Lindor and one to J.D. Martinez. The only other baserunner allowed was Brandon Nimmo, who drew a one-out walk in the fourth inning.
It marked the first time the Mets were shut out in back-to-back games all season, and the ninth time overall for 2024.
“You’ve got to give them credit,” Mendoza said. “They’ve got a good pitching staff and we knew that coming in. Tomorrow, we’ve got to find a way to beat another good arm.”
The Seattle staff is the best in baseball with a 3.44 ERA, with their starting staff leading the way. Mariners’ starters have a league-best 3.25 ERA and have pitched more innings than any other rotation.
The Mets weren’t exactly caught off guard by the Mariners’ arms this weekend. The only thing hitters can do is wait for mistakes. Gilbert didn’t make any.
“They’re really good for a reason, they have a good reputation around the league and especially here, in Seattle, they tend to thrive,” said Nimmo. “It’s unfortunate and frustrating, but also, if I had to say super surprising, I mean, this pitching staff can definitely do that. So it’s not like, it’s out of the realm of possibility.”
A product of Stetson University who has worked with another Stetson grad, former Mets ace Jacob deGrom, the 27-year-old Gilbert used a high-90s fastball and a deadly splitter while mixing in curveballs and sliders to keep the Mets from doing any damage. He struck out six in the win (7-8).
The Mets seemed doomed right from the start. Lindor led off the game with a single to left field off Gilbert, only to be erased two batters later, when Martinez grounded into a double play. It was a fantastic effort by the Mariners on a highlight-reel play, with second baseman Jorge Polanco diving behind the second base bag to stop Martinez’s ground ball and making a barehanded flip to shortstop Leo Rivas from the ground. Rivas tagged the bag and threw on the run to get Martinez at first and end the inning.
“Pretty impressive,” Mendoza said. “Ball hit hard up the middle, then Polanco, not only making the diving play, but the glove flip barehand quite well. [It was] one of the better plays we’ve seen this year.”
The Mets wouldn’t have another hit until the sixth inning. They managed only four on the night.
Manaea gave up all three earned runs allowed in the first inning, but he didn’t exactly settle into his outing after that.
“They made me work,” Manaea said. “Felt like I was throwing my fastball relatively OK, but they jumped all over me in the first inning and I didn’t really recover from there.”
A lot of pitches meant bad counts and long at-bats. Manaea struggled with his command, walking two in the second inning before getting cleanup hitter Cal Raleigh to pop up to shallow left field. He walked the bases loaded in the third with two outs and Harrison Bader bailed him out when he leapt to the center field wall to rob Rivas of extra bases.
That was the end of the line for Manaea (8-5) in his shortest outing of the season (three innings). He finished with a line of three earned runs on four hits, with three strikeouts and five walks to match his season-high mark.
“They just made me work and throw a lot of pitches,” Manaea said.
Right-hander Huascar Brazobán threw two perfect innings and right-hander Reed Garrett struck out the side in the sixth in his first appearance since July 7. Right-hander Phil Maton allowed a run in relief before left-hander Danny Young pitched around a leadoff walk to keep the score at 4-0.
Seattle closer Andres Munoz posted his 11th straight hitless appearance in the ninth, making quick work of the Mets.
Two things can be true: the Mariners (62-56) have a stifling pitching/defense combination, and the Mets (51-56) are skidding at the wrong time.