Sean Manaea to start Wednesday against Braves

Sale’s phenomenal season hasn’t been talked about enough. He faced just two batters over the minimum and didn’t let a single runner into scoring position as he decimated the Mets here. His fastball and slider combined to force 14 swings-and-misses and many of those were very ugly chases. They say father time is undefeated, but the 37-year-old Sale now has a 2.08 ERA with 143 strikeouts and 26 walks across 117 innings this season. If not for Jacob Misiorowski, those would be clear and obvious Cy Young numbers. He’s lined up for a two-start week coming up against the Marlins and Yankees.

Scott stood up to the tall task of battling with the Braves’ lineup and Chris Sale in this game. He matched Sale with zeroes over the first five innings, but gave up a run in the sixth after nine-hitter Jim Jarvis got him for a two-strike double and Matt Olson later drove him in. As far as silver linings go, this was the first time this season that Scott completed six innings and he was highly effective on the whole. His fastball led the way with 10 swings-and-misses and he threw it more than half of the time. Facing a lineup with six left-handed hitters, Scott had to shy a bit away from his trusted sweeper and instead threw some cutters plus more curveballs and splitters than usual. He’s been working hard to make those last two pitches more consistent and while they didn’t miss bats, it was encouraging to see his relative trust in them. He lowered his ERA to 2.99 in what’s been a breakout season so far and is lined up for a two-start week against the Guardians and Pirates coming up.

Manaea struck out four, walked two, and allowed five hits. He served up a two-run homer to Matt Olson but limited the damage otherwise. He’s now made nine starts since returning to the Mets rotation on June 13, and his ERA is under 4 during that stretch. It isn’t dominant, but it’s a big improvement from where things were earlier this season. Manaea’s next start is scheduled to come in Cleveland.

The game will be made up as a split doubleheader on Wednesday. We should likely get the same pitching matchups for both games, but we’ll know for sure on Wednesday. The Braves were hoping to leave New York early because they have a game against the Nationals on Thursday, but luckily it’s not a long trip between the two cities.

This was a great start by Manaea against a tough Dodgers lineup. He did get some help from right fielder Carson Benge who threw one runner out at home and started another relay to get one at third, but don’t let that take too much away from Manaea’s outing. His fastball led the charge with a 61% usage rate – nearly double his season average – and he had no problem crowding hitters from both sides of the plate with it. It also sat right at 91 mph, a big deal for Manaea after struggling to both build up and maintain his velocity earlier in the season. With it and his confidence to challenge hitters in the zone back, he has turned in a 3.75 ERA over his last 13 outings dating back to May 17th. Next up is a meeting with the Braves at home.

All of the runs came in the second after Mauricio Dubón greatly misjudged what seemed like a routine flyball to left field, resulting in a single. Sale wasn’t blameless in the inning, as he plunked light-hitting lefty Jake Cronenworth and walked Fernando Tatis Jr. with the bases loaded, but that all happened after what should have been the third out. Sale matched his season high with the 11 strikeouts. It’s his 94th career 10-strikeout game, moving him past Curt Schilling and into seventh place on the all-time list. Next up is Sandy Koufax at 97. He’ll make his next start Tuesday against the Mets.

He struck out six. The runs all came in the second, with Joey Ortiz’s two-run triple to right serving as the big blow. That ball really ought to have been caught, though, and probably would have been had the Mets started Luis Robert Jr. or Tyrone Taylor in the outfield today instead of playing Brett Baty in right. If it had been caught, there’s a good chance Scott would have gotten through four scoreless and continued to pitch into the fifth. As is, he was done very early, and his ERA rose from 2.87 to 3.13. He should still be a nice option in mixed leagues next week with home starts against the Braves and Marlins.

Manaea gave up seven hits, walked two and struck out seven. He fell to 2-5 with the loss. Manaea ran into trouble immediately, allowing a single to Trea Turner and a two-run home run to Kyle Schwarber before recording his first out. It didn’t get much better from there as Manaea allowed another home run, this one to Turner in the fifth inning. In seven starts since moving into the rotation, he has a 4.48 ERA with 36 strikeouts in 36 2/3 innings. Manaea is lined up to face the Dodgers at home next weekend.

It was business as usual for Sale, who allowed just two baserunners on the evening in a game where his offense gave him an early 6-0 lead that proved to be more than enough for him to pick up the win. Sale needed only 89 pitches to get through seven innings and was pitching on somewhat extended rest after his last start was shortened by a two-hour rain delay in St. Louis. Sale recorded the 2,700th strikeout of his career in this one, becoming the 27th player in MLB history to hit the mark. He has allowed three earned runs or fewer in every game this season and will make his next start on Wednesday at home against the Padres.

The 27-year-old hurler scattered three hits on the evening and didn’t walk a batter. Two of the three hits that he surrendered were doubles to Kyle Schwarber and Bryce Harper, but he was able to evade any damage being done. Scott generated 12 swings and misses on 79 offerings in the contest — five of them on his fastball — while registering a strong CSW of 35 percent. He’ll look to replicate this fine effort as he carries a 2.87 ERA, 1.22 WHIP and a 72/26 K/BB ratio (59 2/3 innings) into Wednesday’s battle against the Brewers in Milwaukee.