PHILADELPHIA — Nolan McLean was lights-out for the Mets, and Aaron Nola was lights-out for the Philadelphia Phillies. In the battle of the established NL East starter and the up-and-coming rookie, the old guard won, but barely.
For the second straight day, the Mets faced a starting pitcher that looked nearly unhittable for seven innings in a 1-0 loss to the Philadelphia Phillies on Monday night at Citizens Bank Park.
“He got us today,” said manager Carlos Mendoza.
It was the third straight loss for the Mets (76-68), who played a similar game one day prior against the Cincinnati Reds, when rookie right-hander Brandon Sproat made his MLB debut.
The kids are alright, but the margin for error is thin with the way the offense inconsistencies continue. The Phillies, first-place in the in the NL East, are eight games ahead of the Mets in the division. New York still holds the third NL Wild Card spot. A sweep of Philadelphia two weeks ago at Citi Field had the Mets confident they could catch them for the division lead. Now, they’d need the Phillies to collapse in order to overtake them.
“We’ve been pretty inconsistent and we put ourselves in this position,” Mendoza said. “We’re still right there, but obviously, the goal is to win the division. But we’re back right now, so I guess that is what it is. We’ve got to keep going.”
McLean made only his fifth start in the big leagues Monday night, facing the Phillies (84-60) for the second time. The challenge for the right-hander this time around was using his stuff in a different way. Obviously, he couldn’t sequence the same way he did two weeks ago when he shut Philadelphia out for eight innings. It wasn’t quite as simple as going out and filling up the zone now that the Phillies have seen what he throws.
McLean went heavy on the sinker and sweeper to right-handed hitters, used the changeup and cutter against lefties, and threw the changeup to both. He used all of his pitches effectively, holding the Phillies to only one run in 5 1/3 innings. He gave up seven hits, with three of them coming from former Mets center fielder Harrison Bader, walked three and struck out five.
“It looked like they were looking for a lot of sweepers,” McLean said. “I wasn’t executing it the best. They weren’t grooved down the middle, but it still looked like they were seeing it pretty well. So figured I’d go away from it for a little bit and mix it in throughout the game.”
The Phillies were aggressive early, and the nail on McLean’s right middle finger ripped off around the time he faced some traffic. It didn’t necessarily affect his execution with the way his adrenaline was going, but he could feel it after the ball left his hand. It’s not something he’s concerned about.
“I’ll survive, I think,” he joked.
Bad baserunning decisions from Bader likely limited the Phillies the second inning, when they scored the only run of the game. With one on and none out, Bader hit a line drive to left-center field and went for second base, trying to stretch a single into a double. He was thrown out, but Max Kepler reached third safely.
Nick Castellanos hit one down the first-base side to score Kepler. McLean found himself in a jam when Bryson Stott grounded into a force-out, and a single by Edmundo Sosa put runners on first and second.
He struck out Otto Kemp to strand them both, throwing four straight sinkers before the No. 9 hitter swung and missed on a changeup. In the fifth, he stranded runners on the corners when he retired Kepler on strikes.
It was the first loss of his career (4-1), but with a 1.42 ERA over his first five starts, the loss is hardly a blemish.
Nola (4-8) was dominant through six shutout innings. The Mets managed only three hits and two walks off the right-hander, striking out seven times.
The bullpens both went scoreless, with left-handers Gregory Soto and Brooks Raley, and right-hander Ryan Helsley doing their job for the Mets. It was especially encouraging for Helsley, only his sixth scoreless outing in 14 appearances since the St. Louis Cardinals traded him to New York at the deadline.
Phillies closer Jhoan Duran gave up a single and a one-out double to Mark Vientos in the ninth. Despite being far outnumbered, visiting fans got a “Let’s go Mets” chant going as best they could, desperate for their team to finally come back to win after the eighth inning.
The streak continues: Duran struck out Jeff McNeil and Francisco Alvarez to convert the save (28). McNeil battled Duran for six pitches, nearly sending the runners home lining a 102 MPH fastball down the right side, foul by only inches. The Mets are 0-60 when trailing after the eighth.
“He was a few inches away from a double there,” Mendoza said. “[Duran] is pretty tough, but I thought Jeff put together a good at-bat there. We didn’t get the result, and Alvy chased. Three pitches — he chased. You could tell he was holding out for the fastball and he never got one.”
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