McLean Masterful As Mets Sweep Phils

Mets 6, Phillies 0 (Citi Field, Flushing, NY)

Mets Record: 72-61

Mets Streak: W3

Mets Last 10: 7-3

WP: Nolan Mclean (3-0) LP: Taijuan Walker (4-7)

Seat On The Korner: Nolan McLean

We select the star of the game and virtually invite him to a Seat on the Korner, just as Ralph Kiner used to do for his studio postgame show on WOR-channel 9 broadcasts in the early decades of the Mets.

Can he also walk on water? Nolan McLean pitched eight masterful innings and became the first Mets pitcher to win his first three starts in such a masterful fashion that all you could think about was how Dwight Gooden broke onto the scene (although Gooden was shelled in his second start). From the start, you knew that Mclean would continue to electrify the fans in the stands and those watching at home, as he mowed down Phillies and kept his pitch count low. After six innings, it was 55 -- the first Met since Dillon Gee in 2015 to be that economical . After seven innings, it was only 76 -- most Mets starters seemingly reach that plateau somewhere in the fourth. When he turned things over to Brooks Raley to close out the Mets' first shutout since June 26, he had allowed only four hits, walked none, struck out six and sent fans to figuring out when he will make his next start so they could mark it on their calendars. Take a seat, Nolan, and dissect the game with Ralph.

Need To Know:

• The win was the Mets' 10th straight against the Phillies at Citi Field, and, yes, the ballpark continues to get into the Phils' heads. Wednesday night, it wasn't just parabolic microphones, it was where Mets stood while on-deck. Taijuan Walker complained to home plate umpire C. J. Bucknor that on-deck Mets were standing too close to the plate and bothering him.

• The win moved the Mets to within four games of the Phils -- with four left against them at Citizens Bank Park in two weeks.

• The Mets are in a stretch of 16 straight games. They are 6-3 so far.

• The Mets are 44-24 at Citi Field in 2025.

• Going into the game, dating back to July 3, Starling Marte had a .378/.429/.822 slash line, with four home runs, six doubles, seven walks and eight RBI. He went 0-4, including an attempt at a bunt single.

• Mets starter Nolan McLean was the first Mets in franchise history to record a win, strike out at least seven batters and throw at least give innings in his first two starts. He is one of only six hurlers in six players overall to accomplish that feat.

• Phillies starter Taijuan Walker, who pitched for the Mets in 2021 and 2022, went into the game with a 1-4 record against his former teammates, sporting a 4.86 ERA in 12 games, nine of them starts. Walker pitched two games in relief against the Mets earlier in the season, allowing three runs on four hits in an inning and a third.

• Harrison Bader, who killed the Mets with his bat in the first two games, reminded the Mets of his fielding prowess in the bottom of the fifth, firing a bullet to second to nail Francisco Lindor trying to stretch a single into what initially looked like an easy double.

• The Marlins come to town Thursday for a four-game set. Clay Holmes, the Mets wins leader with 11, gets the start against Adam Mazur.

• Jonah Tong, scheduled to make his major league debut Friday against the Marlins, will wear uniform number 21. While the number was most worn by Cleon Jones and Lucas Duda, five pitchers have also carried 21 on their back: Masato Yoshii, Bobby Jones, Bill Pulsipher, Rich Hill and, most recently, Max Scherzer.

  
  

Turning Point:

Apologies that we couldn't find video of what we're calling tonight's turning point, but we couldn't resist giving some love to a player practicing a forgotten art and succeeding. After Brett Baty led off the third with a double, Hayden Senger -- probably getting the start because of his familiarity with starter Nolan McLean from their time together in Syracuse -- laid down what clearly was intended as a sacrifice bunt. That, alone, is a rarity, especially for these Mets. But Senger's bunt was so good that Taijuan Walker couldn't field it, putting Baty on third and Sender on first with bunt single, setting the stage for what became a three-run inning. Since we couldn't fins video of the bunt, we'll show you the immediate result: Francisco Lindor's single to plate the Mets' first run.

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Three Things:

Keeping the Line Moving

If there was a carryover from the Mets' walkoff win Tuesday night, it was that you can score runs if everybody just keeps the line moving. On Tuesday, it was four straight hits to score the winning run. Wednesday night, it was five straight in the bottom of the third inning, resulting in three runs . As with the turning point, it had become clear that small ball wins, and the Mets, after a season of failing with runners in scoring position, have finally figured it out. In the 24 games in August, they are .367 (78-212) with runners in scoring position, including .590 (23-39) in this series; Juan Soto has reached base 11 straight times with RISP.

V Continues Swagging

Mark Vientos, who has really turned his season around, hit into a double play to end the Mets rally in the third, and you thought: well, it was nice while it lasted. But then, in the fifth, with Pete Alonso on third and Brandon Nimmo on first, Vientos lined a two-out single to drive in Alonso and extend his hitting streak to 10 games. But that was only the warmup: in the seventh, also with two out, Vientos launched a ball that landed 427 feet away in left center -- Swaggy V's sixth home run and 17th RBI in the 10 games. Since the All-Star break, Vientos is batting .280 (30-107) in 28 games.

On the Other Hand.....

We don't want to throw cold water on the celebration, but just when you thought everything was going well: Francisco Alvarez, seemingly having healed quickly from being hit in the right thumb by a pitch, was sent out for a rehab assignment with Syracuse and, in the top of the sixth inning, was hit by pitch on his left hand. Alvarez left the game and there was no word on the seriousness of this HBP.