(New York) Pete Alonso hit another home run off Aaron Nola and the New York Mets defeated the Philadelphia Phillies 7-2 on Tuesday, taking a 2-1 lead in this second-round series in the National .
Jesse Winker also hit a long ball and Starling Marte made it 4-0 with a two-run single in the sixth. Game 4 will be presented Wednesday evening, again at Citi Field. The starting pitchers will be Ranger Suarez of the Phillies and Jose Quintana of the Mets, lefties.
A victory for the Mets would give the New Yorkers a place in the National Championship Series, against the Los Angeles Dodgers or the San Diego Padres.
The Mets’ Sean Manaea had given up just two hits entering the eighth. He was replaced after allowing a single to the first batter of that inning. In seven innings he gave up one run and three hits, striking out six batters.
As he left the mound, Manaea was warmly cheered by a crowd of 44,093 fans. His career postseason record was 0-3, with a 10.66 ERA.
Manaea got out of trouble in the sixth, where he walked the first two batters. He then struck out Bryce Harper (in three strikes), then an arrow from Nick Castellanos became a double play ball.
Alonso homered to the opposite field on Nola’s first shot in the second. He was on his third cannon shot in four games. All of them crossed the fence in the opposite field while in the regular season, only four of his 34 home runs were of this type.
Nola and Alonso have been competing against each other since the NCAA; in the majors, there is a clear advantage in favor of Alonso, author of six home runs and an average of .320 against Nola, in 54 at-bats.
Jose Iglesias also hit a two-run single and Francisco Lindor drove in a runner with a double. The Phillies’ runs came on singles by Harper and Castellanos in the eighth.
Suarez was 2-0 with a 2.30 ERA against the Mets in the regular season. In September, he struggled with an average of 6.04 in five outings, however. Quintana allowed no runs in six innings last Thursday in Milwaukee. In three starts against the Phillies in 2024, he was 1-0 with a 2.81 ERA.