Sean Manaea, Kodai Senga struggle in auditions before trade deadline as Mets fall to Phillies

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Sean Manaea was very hittable over his short start and Kodai Senga behind him didn’t exactly inspire confidence.Both pitchers are available heading into the trade deadline.Proceed at your own risk if you are a team needing a back-of-the-rotation arm.

Maybe better yet: don’t proceed.The Mets’ uninspiring afternoon — with the game’s start time moved up an hour because of weather concerns — ended with a 6-1 loss to the Phillies at Citizens Bank Park.The game, unfortunately, resumed following a 48-minute rain delay in the seventh inning.Manaea and Senga combined to allow all six of the runs and didn’t receive more than a morsel of support from the offense, which produced only three hits.

The Mets fell 17 games below .500 to match their season’s worst.The Mets already traded one struggling pitcher, sending David Peterson to the Cubs last month for first baseman Cole Mathis, but the fact Manaea and Senga are still owed significant dollars may leave the Mets stuck with them.Manaea is just beyond the halfway point of a three-year contract worth $75 million.Senga, who owns an 8.85 ERA, is still owed roughly $20 million through next season.Teams interested in starting pitching can pursue Freddy Peralta, another underperformer, albeit one who is earning only $8 million this season and is headed toward free agency.

Manaea, who owns a 4.74 ERA, surrendered four earned runs on seven hits and two walks with seven strikeouts over 4 2/3 innings.It was the third time in his last five starts that he failed to pitch beyond five innings.Over 1 1/3 innings, Senga allowed six base runners — three hits and three walks — with two earned runs.

Any thoughts that he can thrive as a reliever have dissipated with two shaky...