Nolan McLean faced a tough start, allowing seven straight hitters to reach base in the first two innings during Monday night’s game.
Remarkably, only a single run was scored in that stretch.
McLean’s been having quite the fortunate run, especially as he watched fellow rookies Carson Benge and AJ Ewing effectively tag three players out at home during the Mets’ 2-1 victory over the Padres at Citi Field.
“It inspires me,” McLean noted. “It saves not just my team’s energy, but me too.”
Despite the rocky beginning, McLean managed to pitch six innings, giving up one earned run on six hits, four walks, and three strikeouts. Jonathan Pintaro, Nate Lavender, and Daniel Duarte then closed out the game without allowing any runs.
Benge put a stop to the first inning by facing off against Jake Cronenworth and Manny Machado back-to-back. McLean allowed four hits in a row after catching a line drive from Fernando Tatis Jr.
With a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first—thanks to an RBI single from Bo Bichette and a sacrifice fly by Luis Robert Jr.—things seemed to be looking up for the Mets.
In the second inning, McLean walked Xander Bogaerts (his second walk of the inning) and struck out Gavin Sheets with the bases loaded. After a come-from-behind hit, he threw home to try and prevent a run. Tatis managed to hit a fly ball for an RBI, but McLean escaped with just the one run. The key moment was Ewing snatching up Cronenworth’s single and successfully throwing Bogaerts out at the plate to end the inning.
McLean’s outing marked the 10th time in his last 11 innings that he pitched for at least six frames. This was also the 12th game in 14 outings where he limited the opposition to two earned runs or fewer, resulting in an impressive 2.55 ERA during that time.
“He was somewhat fortunate at the outset,” said interim manager Andy Green. “But he competed well and didn’t let the first two innings affect the following four. From that point onward, he was impressive.”
Initially, McLean struggled with soft contact, allowing four early hits.
“We faced some tough luck with hits early on,” McLean shared. “Getting the ball to come together at that point was challenging. But, thankfully, I managed to adapt and push through it.”
