Manaea Provides Relief to Taxed Bullpen

Down a suspended closer and coming off two straight extra inning games, the bullpen needed a break Tuesday and Sean Manaea came through with his longest outing of the season at Washington.

The 32-year-old lefty went seven innings, giving up two runs (one earned), five hits and two walks to drop his ERA to 3.67. He has given up five earned runs in 22 2/3 innings over his last four starts for a 1.99 ERA in that span.

Manaea’s outing was a quality start (at least six innings, three earned runs or less) and the Mets are 13th out of 15 National League teams in quality start percentage at 30 percent. Manaea (5-3) has made four quality starts in 16 outings (25 percent) and last night’s was his first since May 13.

And a quality fact from MLB Network researchers amplified by MLB’s Sarah Langs: Manaea made starts in the capital cities of the United Kingdom (London) and Mexico (Mexico City) before making his first start in the capital city of the United States (Washington, D.C.) on Tuesday.

Despite Manaea’s longest outing, there was still little rest for the weary relievers. The Mets needed extra frames for the third game in a row. They scored five in the 10th to beat the Nationals, 7-2, with José Buttó and Dedniel Núñez providing the relief.

The bullpen has been worked hard of late with the Edwin Díaz 10-game suspension, which ends this weekend, while also dealing with injuries to Drew Smith and Sean Reid-Foley. Manager Carlos Mendoza said Tuesday Reid-Foley likely won’t be back until at least after the All-Star break.

Mets starting pitchers are averaging 5.3 innings per start, which is a touch better than the National League 5.2 average. Taxed bullpens and starter length is a league-wide issue. The Philadelphia Phillies lead the NL with 5.9 innings per start. The Milwaukee Brewers and San Francisco Giants are tied for last at 4.7.

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