A McLean Way to End a Losing Streak as Mets Top Astros

Mets 6 Astros 2 (Citi Field, Flushing, NY)

Mets record: 61-75

Mets streak: Won 1

WP - Nolan McLean (10-8)

LP - Christian Javier (1-5)

Seat on the Korner: Nolan McLean

We select a Star of the Game and virtually invite him to take his Seat on the Korner — just as Ralph Kiner did on WOR-TV Channel 9 during the early days of the New York Mets.

Continuing the tradition of Rheingold Beer sponsoring Kiner’s Korner, this season every seat is proudly presented by The Main Event Restaurant & Sports Bar.

With locations in Plainview and Farmingdale, The Main Event features 80+ HD TVs, fresh daily seafood, and Black Angus certified steaks—so you never have to choose between great food and the big game.

In a game where teammate Jared Young went 3-4 with 3 RBIs and a run scored, Nolan McLean had to be pretty special to get the Seat on the Korner. He was. In 7 innings, McLean gave up just an unearned run on 2 hits with 3 walks and 4 strikeouts. Notable is that the first run scored on the second hitter, so from that point on he pretty much cruised, all the while giving the Mets (featuring the aforementioned Young) a chance to win despite some early offensive troubles.

McLean now leads National League rookie starting pitchers in strikeouts (172), starts (27), innings pitched (155.2), and quality starts (17), He now has a 1.76 ERA over his last 11 starts.

Need to Know

• The Mets are now 6-15 against the Astros since their move to the American League in 2013. They are now 4-6 against the Astros at Citi Field since 2013.

• New York now has an 18-17 record in Interleague Play this season.

• Kodai Senga pitched a scoreless 1-hit ninth inning with help from this play by centerfielder AJ Ewing.

• During the game, an unconfirmed report came out that the Mets have put Luis Robert Jr. on outright waiver. Teams now have a 48-hour window to claim him. If a team does claim him, they will take on the remaining guaranteed money on his contract (roughly $3 million left for the 2026 season) plus a $2 million buyout for a 2027 club option. The Mets have not officially confirmed this move.

• Prior to the game, the Mets announced that they will honor legendary announcer Howie Rose with a ceremony prior to the 9/20 game against the Phillies, the Mets last home game of the season.

Turning Point

Earlier on Saturday, the Mets announced they were reinstating outfielder Juan Soto from the injured list where he's been for almost a full month. Soto's last game was on 7/24 against the Dodgers.

His first two at-bats (1st inning and 3rd inning) were relatively uneventful as they ended in a fly out and line out, respectively. When he stepped to the plate in the bottom of the 5th with the potential go ahead run on second and one out, things got a bit more eventful. On a 2-2 pitch, Soto fouled a ball off his leg and was in obvious pain. He took a few moments to regain his footing (physically and emotionally) and then lined the next pitch for a RBI single to right, scoring Francisco Lindor from second base.

The base hit put the Mets up 2-1. Soto would soon come around to score with Carson Benge behind him, on a Jared Young triple, giving the Mets a 4-1 lead. And they never looked back. Their losing streak is stranded at 3, with the team looking to keep their winning ways going on Sunday.

Three Keys

Oh to Be Young Again

After an impressive road trip in which he batted .333 with 2 doubles and an RBI, Mets first baseman of the present (and possibly the future?), Jared Young, has been in the midst of a letdown upon returning to Queens. That changed today. In the bottom of the first, Young's 2-out single on an 0-2 count tied the game at 1.

The clutch hits didn't stop there though. In the 5th inning, with the Mets freshly leading 2-1, Young drove home two much-needed insurance runs with his third triple of the season.

Up Around the Benge

Carson Benge went 1-3 with a single, a walk, and a run scored.

Over his last 28 games dating back to July 29th, Benge is batting .352 (38-108) with 11 extra base hits, 14 RBI, 15 runs, and an OPS approaching 1.000.

Benge ranks first in the NL, among all hitters not just rookies, in hits during that span. With his hit today, he now has 137 on the season, putting him at fifth-most by a rookie in Mets history.

Frankie Says Relax

After taking a 4-1 lead in the bottom of the 5th, the score remained the same for a few innings, and to the uninitiated it probably seemed like the Mets were cruising to a victory. Chances are if you're reading this then you've been initiated and know that a 4-1 lead guarantees nothing. This point was amplified when Yordan Alvarez hit a solo home run in the top of the 8th to cut the lead to 4-2. It was a different Alvarez that provided the Mets with a bit of breathing room in the bottom of the frame.

The Mets led off the bottom of the 8th with two straight singles (by Jared Young and Marcus Semien) and seemed on the verge of a needed rally. AJ Ewing bunted the runners over, and with two runners now in scoring position the Mets sent up pitch hitter Luis Robert Jr. The prime RBI opportunity proved fruitless, however, as Robert Jr popped out to first baseman Christian Walker. So when Alvarez came up to bat, he was looking to salvage a promising inning and also provide insurance runs. As you saw above, his double to the wall in left center did just that.