For starters, Mets need more innings with Guardians up next

Sean Manaea has yet to exceed five innings or 86 pitches in any of his four starts this season.

For the New York Mets, there's no better time for Manaea to change that trend than Monday night.

The left-hander will attempt to provide some much-needed length when the Mets open a three-game series against the visiting Cleveland Guardians.

Manaea (1-1, 2.08 ERA) is slated to oppose Guardians right-hander Slade Cecconi (5-7, 3.77).

Both teams lost on Sunday afternoon. The Mets suffered a 12-4 defeat to the visiting San Francisco Giants in the rubber game of a three-game series. A ninth-inning comeback bid fell short for the host Guardians, who missed a chance to complete a three-game sweep by falling to the Minnesota Twins 5-4.

Starter Frankie Montas gave up seven runs over four innings for the Mets, who haven't had a starter other than David Peterson pitch at least six innings since Clay Holmes tossed six innings in an 8-1 win at the Colorado Rockies on June 7.

In that span, the Mets have lost Paul Blackburn, Griffin Canning, Tylor Megill and Kodai Senga to injuries, though Senga returned July 11. Senga, Montas and Manaea have all been on pitch counts for several weeks. Montas (lat) and Manaea (oblique, elbow) each missed most of the first half.

The Mets got five innings of two-run ball from their revamped bullpen after Senga lasted four innings Saturday, but manager Carlos Mendoza went to mop-up man Austin Warren with New York down 7-1 in the fifth on Sunday.

"It starts with starting pitching," Mendoza said. "We were able to match up (Saturday), ended up winning the game. But back-to-back games, that's almost impossible."

Taking two of three from the Twins served as an encouraging sign for the Guardians, who tried threading the needle between selling and still attempting to mount a postseason run at Thursday's trade deadline.

While the Guardians dealt former Cy Young Award winner Shane Bieber and reliever Paul Sewald, they held on to All-Star leadoff hitter Steven Kwan as well as popular veteran presence Carlos Santana.

Even with Sunday's defeat, Cleveland is 16-7 since July 7 -- a span in which they lost closer Emmanuel Clase to the restricted list. Clase and starting pitcher Luis Ortiz, who was placed on the restricted list on July 3, are each the subject of gambling investigations by Major League Baseball.

The Guardians enter Monday three games behind the Seattle Mariners in the race for the final American League wild-card playoff spot.

"There are a lot of different considerations that we had to weigh around this time of year -- the unexpected developments recently were certainly one of them," Guardians president of baseball operations Chris Antonetti said Thursday. "But in the end, I think we feel good about the roster that we have for the balance of 2025 and are excited about our future."

Manaea didn't factor into the decision in his most recent start last Tuesday, when he gave up one run over five innings as the Mets fell to the host San Diego Padres 7-1.

Cecconi also didn't receive a decision in his most recent start July 28 after allowing three runs over seven innings in the Guardians' 8-6 loss to the visiting Colorado Rockies.

Manaea is 3-1 with a 2.94 ERA in 33 2/3 innings over six career starts against the Guardians. Cecconi didn't factor into the decision in his lone previous appearance against the Mets on June 1, 2024, when he allowed one run, five hits and no walks with four strikeouts in 4 2/3 innings as the Arizona Diamondbacks earned a 10-5 road win.

--Field Level Media