Nolan McLean became the youngest pitcher on the New York Mets upon his promotion from Triple-A on Saturday.
The Mets hope the boost the 24-year-old provided will carry into Sunday night when the Mets travel to the symbol of youth baseball and face the Seattle Mariners in the Little League Classic in Williamsport, Pa.
Clay Holmes (9-6, 3.71 ERA) is slated to start for the Mets against fellow right-hander George Kirby (8-5, 3.71).
The contest will serve as the finale of a three-game interleague set. The Mets evened the series Saturday after McLean allowed two hits and struck out eight over 5 1/3 scoreless innings in his major league debut.
By virtue of New York’s 3-1 victory, McLean joined Matt Harvey as the only Mets pitchers to earn a win while striking out at least eight and not allowing run in their major league debuts. Harvey struck out 11 over 5 1/3 innings in a 3-1 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks on July 26, 2012.
McLean’s strong start sparked a rare complete and efficient performance by the Mets, who recorded only their third win in the last 17 games to move 1 1/2 games ahead of the Cincinnati Reds in the race for the last wild-card berth in the National League.
New York squandered leads in each of its previous six losses entering Saturday’s game.
Francisco Lindor, however, snapped a scoreless tie with a run-scoring double in the third inning before Juan Soto (sacrifice fly) and Pete Alonso (double) each added an RBI in the seventh.
About McLean, Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said: “We felt the energy since the moment he took the mound. Definitely something that maybe we were missing, especially with how hard this stretch has been.”
The Mariners have lost three of four games on the heels of a 10-1 run. Seattle fell 1 1/2 games behind American League West-leading Houston but is tied with Boston for the league’s top wild-card spot.
But each of Seattle’s last three defeats have been by two runs or fewer.
The Mariners loaded the bases with one out in the third inning on Saturday before McLean turned a 1-4-3 double play on Julio Rodriguez’s sharp comebacker.
“A nifty little play with the bases loaded, and they get the double play,” Mariners manager Dan Wilson said. “It took the wind out of our sails early.”
The Mariners avoided their first shutout since July 21 thanks to Eugenio Suarez, who homered with one out in the ninth inning.
Holmes didn’t factor into the decision last Tuesday after allowing five runs over 3 2/3 innings in the Mets’ 13-5 win over the Atlanta Braves. He is 0-2 with a 4.73 ERA and two saves in 12 career relief appearances against the Mariners.
Kirby earned the win Tuesday after throwing seven scoreless innings of three-hit ball in Seattle’s 1-0 victory over Baltimore. He is 0-1 with a 5.14 ERA in two starts against the Mets.