Sean Manaea hit a wall when Mets needed him most in season-ending dud

LOS ANGELES — Sean Manaea mostly sailed through five innings of his Game 2 start before unraveling, unable to find the strike zone and pulled after two walks and a ground ball.In the aftermath, he acknowledged he hit “a wall.” That wall might as well have been concrete Sunday. The Mets’ best pitcher for months had nothing left after a season that will end with 36 total starts and 200 ²/₃ innings, both career highs.

Manaea, bruised by workload, was battered by the Dodgers in the NLCS- and season-ending 10-5 loss at Dodger Stadium. Beginning on July 30, when Manaea dropped his arm slot, through Sept.21, the lefty lasted at least 6 ²/₃ innings for 10 of 11 starts.

He emerged as not just an ace but a workhorse whom the Mets leaned on. Under the stresses of a burden he had never experienced before, Manaea was running on empty during an outing in which he recorded just six outs.The pitching-desperate Mets needed length and got none, Manaea allowing five runs on six hits and two walks in his two-plus innings. He was in trouble from the very start, facing seven Dodgers batters in a 34-pitch first that foretold doom.

Tommy Edman’s two-run double was the run-scorer, but the at-bats that would not end — like an eight-pitch walk to Kiké Hernandez — were nearly as damaging to the Mets and Manaea’s hopes. After another lengthy if scoreless second, Manaea faced three batters in the third and retired none.Edman hammered a two-run homer that put the Mets in a deep hole, and a walk to Max Muncy prompted a pitching change.

After Phil Maton let up a two-run homer to Will Smith, another run could be charged to Manaea. If this was the end of Manaea’s Mets career, he would not be remembered for his last dud.A free-agent find after a rough season with the Giants last year, Manaea grew into the Mets’ best arm and carried the rotation throughout his dominant second-half run. He had a poor postseason history, which he put to bed by pitching well against...