Mets to start Sean Manaea in Friday’s crucial series opener vs. Brewers

The Mets have landed in Milwaukee for an important three-game set against the Brewers and they’ve announced their pitching plans for the first game.

Sean Manaea, who has become the de facto ace of the staff, will take the mound Friday. However, the Mets have yet to announce who will pitch Saturday and Sunday in Milwaukee.

It’s likely manager Carlos Mendoza and the rest of the organization will see where the team stands in the Wild Card picture after Friday’s games before making those decisions.

Entering Friday, the Mets are tied with the Arizona Diamondbacks for the second wild-card spot — though New York owns the tiebreaker. They are just one game up on the Atlanta Braves for the final postseason slot.

Before Wednesday and Thursday’s games against the Braves were postponed, David Peterson was set to pitch before Manaea closed out the series in Atlanta. Having Manaea pitch Friday could potentially line up the lefty to pitch the first game of the Wild Card round on Tuesday — on three days rest — if the Mets were to make it to October.

In 31 starts this season, Manaea is 12-5 with a 3.29 ERA. However, the 32-year-old has pitched magnificently in the last two months.

Manaea has pitched at least 6.2 innings in nine of his last 10 starts across August and September — including eight straight. In his previous start, Sept. 21 against the Phillies, Manaea allowed three runs over seven innings in the Mets’ 6-3 win.

The Brewers will send out veteran lefty Frankie Montas (7-11, 4.85 ERA) for Friday’s series opener to oppose Manaea with first pitch scheduled for 8:10 p.m.