NEW YORK -- Sean Manaea raised each of his arms to the side, stretching out to the full wingspan of his 6-foot-5 frame. Then he lowered them to his waist, balled his fists and screamed.

Manaea had just escaped a two-on, no-outs rally in the sixth inning of National League Division Series Game 3, priming the Mets for what became a 7-2 victory over the Phillies at Citi Field. The win gave Manaea’s team a 2-1 lead in the best-of-five NLDS, with a chance to clinch on their home field Wednesday night.

Of course he understood the importance of what he had done. And of course he knew it hinged upon a crucial juncture in the sixth.

Cruising for much of the evening, Manaea briefly lost his control in walking two batters to open that inning. But he struck out Bryce Harper for the first out, tempting the Phillies slugger to chase a sweeper off the plate. Then he induced another swing outside the zone from Nick Castellanos, who lined an easy double-play ball right to Jose Iglesias.

That’s when Manaea screamed -- though even then, he wasn’t quite done. The left-hander set down the Phillies in order in the seventh, and he would have become the ninth Met to throw seven-plus scoreless innings in a postseason game if not for an inherited run Phil Maton allowed home in the eighth.

When Manaea departed after giving up a leadoff hit that inning, a sold-out Citi Field crowd stood in unison to salute him. Manaea waved to them with his left hand, blew a kiss and clapped his glove as he entered the dugout.

"It's just such a huge, amazing honor," Manaea told FS1 on the field after the game. "These fans have been so amazing all year. To go out there and pitch like that against the Phillies, unbelievable experience."

It helped that Manaea spent most of the evening pitching with a lead. Pete Alonso led off the second inning with his sixth career homer against Aaron Nola, his former college nemesis against whom he has fared remarkably well in the pros. Jesse Winker added to the lead with his first career playoff homer and -- after Manaea’s escape act in the top of the sixth -- Starling Marte and Iglesias each singled home two crucial insurance runs.