Nolan McLean Twirls Another Gem for Mets
On Thursday, Citi Field witnessed Nolan McLean‘s best outing of the year, but it got lost in a 7-1 defeat to the Arizona Diamondbacks. Despite the lopsided final score, McLean’s performance was the Mets’ clear standout. Through 6 1/3 innings of work, McLean surrendered only three hits and two earned runs, striking out eight, bringing his season ERA to 2.70.
Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images
The right-hander set the tone right away, retiring the side in the first on three groundouts. After Luis Robert Jr. gave the Mets a 1-0 lead with a solo blast in the bottom of the first, McLean was able to protect that slim margin with ease. He navigated a second-inning double by Jose Fernandez by striking out James McCann and inducing a groundout from Alek Thomas. He also had a defensive play come to him in the fourth. After walking Ildemaro Vargas to start the frame, McLean snared a Geraldo Perdomo comebacker to initiate a clean 1-6-3 double play.
By the fifth and sixth, he was in full control. McLean leaned heavily on his sinker — throwing 44 of them — while mixing in his sweeper and curveball to keep hitters off balance. He struck out four of the minimum six batters he faced across those two innings.
“He was really good… he had everything working, especially his sinker,” manager Carlos Mendoza noted after the game.
McLean felt he was building momentum as his outing went on.
“Felt good,” he said of how he felt when entering the seventh. “It felt like I had a lot left in the tank, which is exciting going in for the rest of the year.”
However, the wheels came off in the seventh. A leadoff walk and a one-out single by Fernandez ended McLean’s night at exactly 100 pitches. He left to a strong ovation, but the momentum didn’t hold. Luke Weaver couldn’t strand his inherited runners, and Arizona pushed across four in the inning before adding three more in the eighth against Luis Garcia.
Despite leaving with the lead and taking the loss, McLean remained a supportive teammate.
“It’s part of baseball, at the end of the day,” McLean said. “I’m sure I’ll leave guys out there and our bullpen is gonna strand them for me… I know those guys got my back out there.”
Mendoza also kept the focus on moving forward: “It happens, but you gotta move on. You take the positives, and that was Nolan today.
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