Mets Drop Heartbreaker in Crucial Game Against Phillies

The first game of the Mets’ massive four-game series with the Phillies on Monday night featured a pitching matchup of Nolan McLean and Aaron Nola that heavily favored the Mets. After all, McLean dominated the Phillies for eight scoreless innings the last time he faced them, and Nola entered Monday’s action with a 6.78 ERA on the season.

But that’s why games are played on fields and not on paper. Philadelphia fared better against McLean than the first time they faced him, and Nola brushed aside his dreadful season to deliver a vintage start, leading to a 1-0 Phillies win. In a key game that the Mets could have and should have won, the offense failed to show up.

Nola was unusually dominant, especially considering his 9.96 ERA over his last six starts. He was rarely ever in trouble, allowing only three hits and two walks over six scoreless innings with seven strikeouts. The lone threats against Nola came in the second and third innings. In the second, the Mets put runners on first and third, but Cedric Mullins struck out to end the scoring chance. In the third, Pete Alonso reached second on a two-out double, but Brandon Nimmo also struck out to end the inning.

McLean, on the other hand, was far from bad, but he did not have nearly the same kind of success he had against the Phillies less than two weeks ago. Battling with a bloodied nail on his throwing hand for most of the night, McLean was unable to control his breaking ball to the extent he’s been able to early in his career. He still lasted into the sixth inning, going 5 1/3 and allowing a run on seven hits and three walks with five strikeouts.

The only run against McLean occurred during a second inning in which the Phillies peppered four hits—all singles—against McLean. Nick Castellanos delivered the run-scoring hit, an opposite-field single, to drive in Max Kepler from third base. McLean did a good job limiting the damage and received help from Cedric Mullins, who threw out Harrison Bader trying to stretch a single into a double.

McLean’s ability to keep the Mets in the game gave them several chances to tie the Phillies or take the lead, both against Nola and the Philadelphia bullpen. With Nola getting through six scoreless, David Robertson entered the seventh inning in a 1-0 game and silenced Mark Vientos, Jeff McNeil, and Francisco Alvarez with ease. Robertson struck out two in the inning, Vientos and Alvarez, both on three pitches.

After Brooks Raley delivered a six-pitch, 1-2-3 inning in the bottom of the seventh, Matt Strahm entered in the top of the eighth as the Mets’ next test. The Mets countered with a pair of righty pinch hitters—Starling Marte and Luisangel Acuña—batting for Brett Baty and Cedric Mullins at the bottom of the order, but neither reached base. Francisco Lindor walked to send Juan Soto to the plate as the go-ahead run, but Soto hit a bullet ground ball right at Bryson Stott to send the game to the ninth.

Ryan Helsley delivered one of his best outings as a Met in the top of the ninth, putting the Phillies down in order with strikeouts to his final two batters. Helsley stuck with his breaking pitches and threw the fastball just one time out of a total of 15 pitches. Helsley’s effectiveness gave the Mets one more chance to score just one run in the bottom of the ninth against flamethrower Jhoan Duran, who they had walked off at Citi Field just a few weeks earlier.

Pete Alonso sent Duran’s first pitch of the night back up the middle for a slow ground ball single. Brandon Nimmo followed up Alonso’s hit with a flyout to left before Mark Vientos sent a deep line drive to right field over Castellanos’ head. Ronny Mauricio, running for Alonso, headed over to third while Vientos got into second base, standing to put runners on second and third with one out. Jeff McNeil put together a good at-bat, working a 2-2 count, but was blown away with 102 miles per hour to put the Mets down to their final out.

The game fell into Francisco Alvarez’s hands, but Alvarez swung at three straight curveballs in the opposite batter’s box to end the game. One of the more excruciating losses of the season, the Mets are now eight games behind the Phillies with 18 to play and will have to hope they can hold onto their grasp of a Wild Card spot.

Statistic of the Game: Rare Company

With his start in this game, Nolan McLean became just the second pitcher in MLB history to begin his career with five starts of at least five strikeouts and fewer than three runs scored. The other pitcher was Fernando Valenzuela in 1981.

Player of the Game: Nolan McLean + the Bullpen

While McLean wasn’t at his best, he gave the Mets every chance in the world to win the game. Gregory Soto, Brooks Raley, and Ryan Helsley combined for 2 2/3 perfect innings out of the bullpen in one of the more encouraging bullpen performances in some time.

On Deck

The Mets will play the second of their four-game series with the Phillies on Tuesday night at 6:45 p.m. ET. Sean Manaea (1-2, 5.60 ERA) will be hoping to reverse his fortunes, while Ranger Suárez (11-6, 2.89 ERA) gets the ball for Philadelphia. The game will air on SNY.

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