Mets and patchwork 'pen strive to continue success vs. Nationals

Left-hander Sean Manaea saved his rotation spot -- and maybe his roster spot -- by mounting an impressive midseason turnaround for the New York Mets.

But he's not even the most compelling story among the pitchers on the resurgent Mets.

Manaea and the Mets will look to continue building momentum on Saturday afternoon, when they host the Washington Nationals in the middle game of a three-game series between National League East foes.

Manaea (4-5, 4.13 ERA) will start for the Mets against Nationals right-hander Brad Lord (5-2, 3.79).

Carson Benge's tie-breaking RBI single capped a two-run sixth inning Friday night for the Mets, who rode an unlikely group of pitchers to a 4-1 win.

Of the five pitchers to play on Friday, only Kodai Senga -- who got the final three outs for his second save -- opened the season on the major league roster. And Senga was winless in eight starts and was relegated to long relief and mop-up duties before emerging as a late-inning reliever after the cellar-dwelling Mets gutted their bullpen at the trade deadline this month.

The trades of Huascar Brazoban, A.J. Minter, Brooks Raley and Luke Weaver also created opportunities for Nate Lavender, Jonathan Pintaro and Daniel Duarte, who combined for 3 2/3 scoreless innings ahead of Senga. Each pitcher began the season at Triple-A Syracuse.

Lavender was the first reliever to follow starter Robert Stock, who began the season on the injured list recovering from thoracic outlet syndrome surgery before making his first big league starts since 2021.

Pintaro, who recorded the first win of his career on Friday, and Stock also are veterans of independent league ball.

"Pretty much all we want to do is go out there and compete," Pintaro said after the Mets improved to 7-3 since the trade deadline. "Just do everything we can to show the world that we deserve this chance and that we have a great opportunity here to compete and help our teammates do everything they can to get the wins."

The Nationals, who fell 5 1/2 games behind the Arizona Diamondbacks and Philadelphia Phillies in the race for the last National League wild-card spot, lead the majors with 663 runs but were held to three or less on Friday for the 16th time in 37 games since July 1.

Washington was 1-for-8 with runners in scoring position Friday. The Nationals missed a chance to add to 1-0 lead in the fifth when Lavender relieved Stock and retired Daylen Lile and Keibert Ruiz on long flyouts to strand a pair of runners.

"We had a couple innings early on where I would have liked to be able to push at least one or two across to separate ourselves a little more than just 1-0," Nationals manager Blake Butera said.

Manaea won his second straight start last Sunday, when he gave up one run over seven innings as the Mets routed the Pittsburgh Pirates, 11-1. The 34-year-old southpaw is 3-4 with a 3.50 ERA in 11 starts since moving back into the rotation June 13 and has a 3.39 ERA in his last 17 appearances dating to May 10, four days after his ERA hit a season-high 6.85.

Manaea is 1-3 with a 5.45 ERA in eight career games (six starts) against the Nationals.

Lord, meanwhile, didn't factor into the decision last Sunday after allowing one run over 2 2/3 innings in the Nationals' 7-1 win over the Cincinnati Reds.

It was the second start of the season for Lord, who is transitioning back to the rotation after making 19 starts as a rookie last year. He is 1-1 with a 4.02 ERA in five career games (two starts) against the Mets.

--Field Level Media