And a rookie shall lead them.
The Mets jumped back into the NL East race Wednesday night, but that might not have been the biggest development at Citi Field. Nolan McLean’s manhandling of a formidable Phillies lineup was just that impressive.
In his third career major league start, the right-hander surrendered only four harmless singles over eight shutout innings in the Mets’ 6-0 victory to complete a three-game sweep.
The Mets, who have won five of six since their series loss in Washington last week, moved within four games of Philadelphia for the NL East lead.
The teams will reconvene in two weeks for a four-game series at Citizens Bank Park. The Mets began the night with a 3 ½-game lead on Cincinnati (which played late in Los Angeles) for the NL’s third and final wild card.
McLean’s brilliance on this night was his efficiency. The rookie needed only 93 pitches — 69 of which were strikes — to throttle Kyle Schwarber, Bryce Harper and Co.
The Marlins are next into Queens, with a four-game series beginning Thursday. The highlight of that series for the Mets will be another stud pitching prospect’s MLB debut — Jonah Tong is scheduled to receive the ball Friday.
The Phillies didn’t seriously challenge McLean until the eighth, when he allowed two straight singles to put runners on the corners with nobody out.
McLean responded by retiring Nick Castellanos, Bryson Stott and Harrison Bader without a run scoring.
McLean, who struck out six, saw his ERA shrink to 0.89. He left to a standing ovation after retiring Bader on a squib in front of the plate to conclude the eighth.
Five straight hits against Taijuan Walker in the third inning staked the Mets to a 3-0 lead.
Francisco Lindor, Juan Soto and Pete Alonso each delivered an RBI single in the inning after Brett Baty doubled leading off and Hayden Senger bunted for a hit.
Walker was on the ropes, but struck out Brandon Nimmo before Mark Vientos grounded into an inning-ending double play.
It was a rare miss in a big spot lately for Vientos, who entered the day with a .952 OPS in August.
But Vientos atoned in his next at-bat with an RBI single in the fifth that extended the Mets’ lead to 4-0.
Alonso walked and Nimmo singled ahead of Vientos after Lindor was thrown out trying to stretch a single into a double to begin the inning.
And Vientos put the icing on the sweep with a two-run homer in the eighth — his sixth blast in his last 10 games.
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