ARLINGTON, Texas – New York Mets starter Sean Manaea took a no-hitter into the sixth inning against Texas on Wednesday night, even after the Rangers scored off him in the first inning.
The no-hit bid ended in the sixth, when the Rangers tied it and quickly knocked Manaea out of the game.
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While Manaea wound up with a no-decision in the 5-3 loss that ended the Mets' seven-game winning streak, the left-hander recovered for a solid finish after that shaky first inning.
“After that, the conviction, aggressive in the strike zone, using all of his pitches and he stayed on the attack,” manager Carlos Mendoza said. “He limited damage in that first inning. And then he was really good — the sweeper, slider, the cutter, all of his pitches. I thought it was a good outing for him.”
Texas didn’t get its first hit until Robbie Grossman lined a sharp single to left with one out in the sixth. That ended a string of 14 consecutive batters retired by Manaea since walking the bases loaded and hitting a batter to force home a run in the first inning.
Manaea got out the first two batters of the game before those three walks in a row, then bounced a pitch that hit Wyatt Langford. The first inning ended with a fielder’s choice grounder on Manaea’s 36th pitch, and was followed by a dugout conversation with Mendoza and catcher Francisco Alvarez.
“Kind of motivated me there,” Manaea said. “From there on, it was just kind of throw the ball down the middle and then see what they can do with it. ... That was a huge difference, not trying to shy away from contact or anything.”
He threw 18 strikes and 18 balls in the first inning, then retired Texas three-up, three-down each of the next four innings.
“The (first) inning could have been so much worse than how we ended up there,” Manaea said. “I kind of just felt like I was shying away from contact, obviously not getting ahead of guys and just not trusting my stuff. That was the most frustrating part for sure.”
Corey Seager struck out for the second time to start the sixth before the hit by Grossman, who scored when Josh Smith doubled into the right-field corner to chase Manaea. Langford then greeted reliever Sean Reid-Foley with an RBI single that tied it at 3.
Manaea had six strikeouts while allowing three runs and two hits. He threw 61 of 95 pitches for strikes, with his only walks coming in the first.
“I reeled in, getting ahead of guys, getting quick outs,” Manaea said. “I'd say by far that was the best outing, even though that was the worst start to it.”
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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb