Mets' newest rallying cry: emotional support, black-eyed

Before the second inning of the Mets' NLDS Game 3 victory over the Phillies on Tuesday at Citi Field, Jose Quintana looked at Luis Severino, saw 5-9 written on his face in black eye paint and thought his own face could do a little postseason also use dazzling.

And so he dutifully rubbed the plain black lines from his cheeks with a towel, turned to Pablo Reyes, the taxi operator, and asked him to start drawing. Quintana would also wear starter Sean Manaea's number 59.

“We're all just big kids at the end of the day,” Manaea said after his masterful performance in the 7-2 win — one run, three hits, two walks and six strikeouts over seven-plus innings. “When you can have fun and support each other and be boys, that’s really cool and special things can happen.”

However, this is not the first time this has happened. You see, it was in the hours before Severino took the mound in Game 2 against the Phillies that Jesse Winker went to Manaea with a touch of inspiration.

Deep, deep black, inspiration.

“It just happened. . . “There was no rhyme or reason to it,” Winker said before Tuesday’s game. “I put the four-zero. . . Normally I do a little diagonal thing, but that day, and I don't know – that day was Sevy day (and that's his number), and all of our pitchers were so great, and on top of that, they were really good baseball players. They’re incredible to be around.”

But even as Eyeblack's 4-0 win made the rounds on social media – “Get a teammate like Sean Manaea,” the Mets rotation account tweeted, and not just for more practical reasons.

That's right: Along with their own celebratory dance and personal OMG sign, they have emotional support from Eyeblack.

One of the iconic photos from Game 3 of the Wild Card Series – the one of Pete Alonso hitting one of the most dramatic home runs in franchise history – is (who else?) Manaea wearing a rally cap and black eye spots on his cheeks has. As Alonso hits his home run, Manaea and David Peterson clutch each other in open-mouthed awe – rotation members who are never far from each other and always doing something that's at least a little funny.

Manaea credits Winker with starting the trend, and considering the Mets' use of grimaces, pop songs and Rally Pumpkins during this improbable run, it's no surprise that success also took hold.

“It just started last week in Atlanta,” Manaea said Monday. “The last week was crazy, so we just stuck with it. (It's) everything feeding each other. I think we all have the same goal in mind: make it to the postseason. And also on a selfish level: I just want to be great. I think they just feed off each other. Sevey does it well, I want to do it well, (Peterson) wants to do it well, and it’s just such a team mentality where you just want to go and do it for the guys.”

Even people who don't normally wear eyewash, like Kodai Senga, were anointed by the stuff on their days off. Even Senga's interpreter, Hiro Fujiwara, wore it. It's also a sign of the unit's strong bond – a certain Peterson, who has been on this team since 2020, finds it special.

“For us, it’s just another thing to have fun and stay loose,” Peterson said Tuesday. “The thing about this group is that everyone really wants each other – whoever is throwing that day – to go out and have their best outing.” . . It's the genuine pride we feel in the starting rotation and the joy we feel watching each other succeed. . . There's a healthy competition when it comes to staying on top of things and giving each other grief. It was great.”

Manaea was a little more mystical: “Just another good luck charm, I guess,” he said.

Hearing this, Winker verbally shrugged his shoulders, but then paused. “If Manaea believes it, I believe it too,” he said.

When he said that, Winker had a clean face and was in the middle of taking batting practice. When Manaea threw his first pitch Tuesday, Winker's cheeks were smeared black as usual.

Laura Albanese is a reporter, feature writer and columnist covering local professional sports teams. She started as an intern at Newsday in 2007.