There were boos coming down at Citi Field in the middle of the sixth inning, but not for the reason one might expect.
Starved for a strong start from their starting rotation, the Mets got exactly that from their newest member.
While fans seemingly wanted more from Nolan McLean, manager Carlos Mendoza pulled him after 5 ⅓ scoreless innings in which he struck out eight against the Mariners.
He allowed two hits and walked four, likely keeping him from going longer.
Gregory Soto relieved him to keep the Mets up 1-0, officially closing the book on McLean’s big league debut.
In all, McLean tossed 91 pitches, 55 of which went for strikes.
He largely used sweepers (36 percent) mixed in with sinkers (26 percent) and curveballs (21 percent).
In total, he recorded 11 swing and misses, five of which came on the curve.
He got into a jam in the third inning when the Mariners loaded the bases, but McLean induced a ground ball back through the middle before he snagged it behind his back and flipped it to second base to kickstart an inning-ending double play.
For a Mets rotation that has had trouble even going five innings over the past two months, McLean delivered exactly what the doctor ordered.
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
