Sean Manaea struck out seven in 3⅓ innings of relief in his return but the Mets dropped a 3-2 walk-off loss to the Royals on Sunday in Kansas City.
Sean Manaea emerged from his first major league start since last October with a loss on his ledger, but the performance was may more encouraging than the ultimate result.
The veteran left-hander, who had been out since late February with an oblique strain, looked unhittable for stretches of his 3⅓ innings of work but two base hits and a stolen base in the ninth inning handed him the loss.
Nick Loftin's RBI single into left field scored the speedy Tyler Tolbert as Manaea took the defeat for the Mets in a 3-2 walk-off loss to the Royals on Sunday afternoon at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City.
For Manaea, coming away healthy was the biggest step in his first start since 2024.
"Obviously it sucks losing, you never want to do that, but for me personally, it just feels good to be healthy and back on the mound," Manaea told reporters. "Yes, so it's a very weird juxtaposition."
It was the Mets' sixth walk-off loss of the season as they closed the first half of the season with a 55-42 record.
The Mets had mounted a comeback from 2-0 down in the top of the ninth inning off Royals reliever Carlos Estevez, with Jeff McNeil driving a pinch-hit RBI triple to right-center field, scoring Ronny Mauricio after a leadoff double, and Jared Young knocking a pinch-hit, game-tying sacrifice fly.
Manaea had entered the game in the bottom of the sixth inning with the Mets already trailing by two runs. After giving up a single to Bobby Witt Jr., the Mets left-hander struck out the next five batters he faced.
In the eighth inning, Manaea worked around a pair of singles, striking out Witt and popping up Maikel Garcia with runners on the corners.
The left-hander finished with seven strikeouts while allowing five hits and the game-winning run to score. He threw 65 pitches, inducing 13 whiffs — 10 on the fastball and three on the sweeper — in his first time out.
"Typical Sean Manaea. Fastball playing at the top of the zone, getting swing and misses," Carlos Mendoza told reporters. The sweeper was really good. We saw that the whole year, and it was good to see it again today. Attacking, throwing strikes and when those pitches are going, especially from that slot, it's pretty effective, and we saw it today."
This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: NY Mets: Sean Manaea's return for Mets spoiled in walk-off loss to Royals
Category: Baseball
