Sean Manaea makes most of Mets’ Sunday cushion, but admits one pitch cost him

The Mets used a big early cushion to straighten out the story of Sean Manaea’s outing on Sunday at Petco Park. New York scored twice in the fifth to make it 4-0, then added runs in the sixth and eighth to secure a 7-3 victory over the Padres. Manaea, on a rotation-adjacent bulk plan, allowed two runs over four innings, helping the Mets protect a lead and preserve their bullpen for later work.

The lead mattered because Manaea’s best games in the first half of this stretch have often come with favorable game management. The Yahoo Sports recap of Sunday’s matchup emphasized that the Mets were able to give him that kind of support, “afforded a cushion,” and that he was able to use it. The same piece also noted that he had one pitch he would like back, a reminder that even in comfortable circumstances, one location or one mistake can still surface.

On the field, Manaea’s control was the primary reason his four innings turned into something closer to stability than damage control. He struck out Manny Machado in the fourth, according to MLB’s game story, and he finished his stint with three strikeouts while limiting San Diego to two earned runs. Fox Sports’ box summary lists his line as four innings, four hits, two earned runs, and three strikeouts, with the win credited to him for bulk relief.

The one blemish that lingered came from Freddy Fermin. The Padres catcher hit a two-run homer off Manaea in the fifth, accounting for all three of San Diego’s runs in the game. CBS New York reported that Fermin drove in all three Padres runs, and it also highlighted that he had not been hitting home runs consistently before connecting in this one. With the Mets already up big, that homer still mattered because it briefly tightened the scoreboard and forced New York to continue pitching with focus rather than autopilot.

Offensively, New York’s production made Manaea’s job easier. Carson Benge went 5-for-5 with a home run and an RBI triple, and Marcus Semien and M.J. Melendez also homered in support. CBS New York described the scoring rhythm, including the two-run fifth that pushed the Mets to a four-run cushion and the sixth inning that expanded the lead to 6-2. The Mets’ ability to keep scoring in waves, rather than a single rally, meant Manaea could work through trouble without being tied to every batter needing to be perfect.

The bigger background is how the Mets have been deploying Manaea. New York has treated him as more than a traditional bullpen arm at times, using him in long relief and rotation-adjacent roles depending on how the game shapes up. Earlier this spring, reported that manager Carlos Mendoza wanted Manaea stretched out toward starter-like workload before considering a potential sixth-starter decision, framing those longer outings as both a durability and pitch-use test. Sunday’s result fits that theme, with Manaea giving the Mets a multi-inning bridge they could trust.

Going forward, the practical question is whether this kind of bullpen-start hybrid will keep looking like a sustainable solution for the Mets as their schedule moves on. CBS New York’s recap pointed to New York returning home Tuesday, which will bring a faster reset and a clearer read on what the pitching staff needs next. For Manaea, the takeaway is straightforward, even if the “one pitch” he wanted back has to be logged and forgotten quickly: when the Mets can build a cushion, his ceiling rises, and his value to the staff looks more like innings management than emergency repair.