Mets, Padres take NLDS leads with Game 3 victories at home

Sean Manaea carried a shutout into the eighth inning and benefited from strong defence behind him by the New York Mets, who beat the Philadelphia Phillies 7-2 in Game 3 of a National League Division Series on Tuesday.

Pete Alonso and Jesse Winker homered, Starling Marte and Jose Iglesias each had two-run singles and Francisco Lindor added an RBI double for the Mets, who lead the best-of-five series two games to one. Game 4 is scheduled for Wednesday afternoon, when host New York will aim to reach the NL Championship Series for the first time since 2015.

The Phillies, who reached the World Series in 2022 and the NLCS in 2023, haven't won a game when facing elimination since defeating the Toronto Blue Jays in Game 5 of the 1993 World Series.

Manaea (1-0), who entered Tuesday with a 10.66 ERA in four career playoff appearances, gave up one run on three hits while striking out six, walking two and plunking two over seven-plus innings.

The most well-struck hit off Manaea was Alec Bohm's one-out single off the right-centre field wall in the fourth, but centre fielder Tyrone Taylor barehanded the carom and fired to shortstop Francisco Lindor, who made a swipe tag at the sliding Bohm.

Manaea got out of a jam in the sixth, when he walked Kyle Schwarber and Trea Turner to open the inning. The 32-year-old southpaw then struck out Bryce Harper on three pitches and got Nick Castellanos to line to second, where Iglesias tossed to Lindor to double up Schwarber.

Manaea exited to a standing ovation after giving up Edmundo Sosa's infield single leading off the eighth. Harper and Castellanos had back-to-back two-out RBI singles against Phil Maton and Ryne Stanek before Bohm flew out to strand two.

Alonso continued his run of dramatic moments by homering on the first pitch he saw from Aaron Nola (0-1) in the second inning. It was the third homer in the last four games for Alonso, an impending free agent who extended the Mets' season by hitting a three-run ninth-inning homer last Thursday in New York's 4-2 win over the Milwaukee Brewers in Game 3 of an NL wild-card series.

Winker homered deep into the second deck in right in the fourth. Marte and Iglesias added their insurance hits in the sixth and seventh before Lindor delivered his hit with two outs in the eighth.

Nola (0-1) gave up four runs.

Padres take 2-1 series lead

David Peralta hit a two-run double and Fernando Tatis Jr. added a two-run home run in a six-run second inning as the San Diego Padres held on for a 6-5 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers in Game 3 of the National League Division Series.

Four relievers combined to throw four scoreless innings, with Robert Suarez picking up a four-out save, as the Padres took a 2-1 lead in the best-of-five series. San Diego moved one victory away from its second visit to the National League Championship Series in three seasons.

Game 4 is set for Wednesday at San Diego.

The Padres sent 10 batters to the plate in the second inning to overcome an early Dodgers lead and set up a similar scenario to the 2022 NLDS, when they lost the opening game at Los Angeles then won the next three.

Teoscar Hernandez hit a grand slam for the Dodgers, and Mookie Betts homered to end an 0-for-22 stretch in the postseason. Los Angeles starter Walker Buehler (0-1) gave up six runs on seven hits over five innings without a strikeout. Shohei Ohtani went 1-for-4.

After Padres starter Michael King (2-0) gave up five runs on five hits over five innings, Jeremiah Estrada and Jason Adam each pitched a 1-2-3 inning. Tanner Scott recorded two outs in the eighth before Suarez earned his second save of the postseason.

Betts nearly had a home run taken away in the first inning for the second consecutive game by Jurickson Profar, but this time the ball clipped the glove of the Padres left fielder and cleared the wall as Los Angeles took a 1-0 lead.

In the Padres' six-run second inning, Dodgers infielders Freddie Freeman and Miguel Rojas were unable to turn potential double plays off ground balls.

Manny Machado scored to tie the game 1-1 on the botched double-play attempt by shortstop Rojas. Peralta's two-run double down the right field line gave San Diego a 3-1 lead before Kyle Higashioka brought home a run on a sacrifice fly.

With two outs, Tatis socked a two-run home run to left-centre for a 6-1 lead. It was Tatis' fourth of the postseason and third in two games.

The Dodgers got back in the game after opening the third inning with three consecutive singles to load the bases, the first from Rojas, who left the game with a groin injury after reaching third base. Hernandez delivered his grand slam to centre field, pulling the Dodgers within 6-5.