Nolan McLean might be pretty good.
The Mets rookie right-hander pitched another gem Saturday in a 6-2 win over the Astros, as New York snapped a three-game losing streak. McLean pitched seven innings without allowing an earned run, his second consecutive shutout appearance.
Beyond McLean, this game had a little bit of everything that could make a Mets fan smile, even towards the end of a lost season. The game featured an RBI from Juan Soto RBI in his return from the IL, Jared Young continuing to be
a bright spot with a three-hit, three-RBI day, Francisco Alvarez breaking out of a slump, and AJ Ewing making the difficult look easy defensively.
McLean relied heavily on his fastball and cutter to great effect, drawing mostly soft contact. He cruised the first five innings on 65 pitches while only needing one strikeout to keep the Houston lineup in check. McLean walked Daulton Varsho in the opening of the seventh, but a fielder’s choice and two more strikeouts helped him escape unscathed.
While things ultimately went the Mets’ way, things started off bumpy. Brett Baty got the start in left field and instantly failed the first test. Jeremy Pena sent McLean’s very first pitch down the left-field line, where Baty misplayed the ball off the wall, allowing Pena to reach third base. Yordan Alvarez scored Pena on a sacrifice fly to put the Mets in an early hole.
The Mets answered back in the bottom of the first with Young’s RBI single that scored Francisco Lindor. Young’s hit came on an 0-2 count against the Astros’ lefty opener Bennett Sousa, who was promptly removed from the game in favor of Cristian Javier.
The game remained tied 1-1 with McLean humming along and Javier looking strong until the fifth inning. That’s when Lindor sent a double off the right-field wall, then Soto scored him with a line-drive single. Soto had fouled a pitch off his leg and took time with the trainer before stepping back in the box and making his presence felt. Carson Benge singled to advance Soto before Young scored them both with a triple.
Daniel Duarte relieved McLean in the eighth inning, giving up a solo home run to Yordan Alvarez, which cut the Mets’ lead to 4-2. But Francisco Alvarez had an answer when he sent a two-RBI double into the gap in the bottom of the eighth to give the Mets their final 6-2 advantage. Alvarez entered the game with just two hits in his last 27 at-bats.
Kodai Senga relieved Durarte for the ninth and immediately gave up some hard-hit balls. Not to fear, Ewing was all over center field, showing off the speed on a liner from Varsho, then making a crashing catch in the wall to retire Christian Walker. Taylor Trammell lined out to end the game.
The Mets are back Sunday at 3:10 PM EDT in the rubber match with Houston. Zac Thornton is scheduled to take the mound for New York as he looks to build on his three consecutive quality starts.
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Win Probability Added
What’s WPA?
Big Mets winner: Nolan McLean, +26% WPA
Big Mets loser: Bo Bichette, -8% WPA
Mets pitchers: +28% WPA
Mets hitters: +22% WPA
Teh aw3s0mest play: Jared Young’s RBI triple in the fifth, +18% WPA
Teh sux0rest play: Jeremy Pena’s double in the first, -9.1% WPA
