Rookie Nolan McLean, Mets seek to sweep Phillies

Shortly after he delivered a walk-off single on Tuesday night, New York Mets outfielder Brandon Nimmo mused that baseball can be "a funny game."

The Mets surely are more entertained lately by the sport's twists and turns than the Philadelphia Phillies are.

The Mets will look to complete a series sweep of their longtime National League East rivals Wednesday night, when they host the Phillies in the finale of a three-game set.

Rookie Nolan McLean (2-0, 1.46 ERA) is slated to make his third big league start for the Mets, against fellow right-hander Taijuan Walker (4-6, 3.44).

The Mets won in eventful fashion Tuesday night, when they squandered a three-run lead before Nimmo's single capped a four-hit rally against Phillies closer Jhoan Duran and lifted New York to a 6-5 victory.

The victory continued a timely surge for the Mets, who have won four of their last five games -- including the first two contests of the three-game series against the National League East-leading Phillies -- to move 3 1/2 games ahead of the Cincinnati Reds in the race for the final NL wild-card spot.

New York also has moved within five games of the Phillies atop the NL East, which equals the closest the Mets have been to first place since Aug. 12.

The Mets have 43 runs in the last five games. They opened August by scoring 96 runs in their first 18 games, a span in which New York went 5-13.

"Baseball's a funny game," Nimmo said. "Sometimes things start to click, and we've been having that happen lately. The bats have been really coming alive over the last seven to 10 days."

The Phillies are 6-4 in their last 10 games, but the losses Monday and Tuesday were accompanied by plenty of unpleasant surprises for the visitors. Cristopher Sanchez, a contender for the NL Cy Young Award, squandered an early three-run lead and took the defeat in Monday night's 13-3 loss.

On Tuesday, Duran's dominance disappeared during a 12-pitch span in which he didn't record an out. The four hits Duran allowed against the Mets were two fewer than he'd allowed in his first nine appearances for the Phillies, who acquired him from the Minnesota Twins on July 30.

The back-to-back losses, coupled with the Dodgers' consecutive wins over the Reds, reduced the Phillies' lead over Los Angeles to a half-game in the race for the final first-round bye.

"We've been playing good baseball," Philadelphia manager Rob Thomson said. "We've got a five-game (division) lead. We come in here (Wednesday) and go to battle again."

McLean earned the win in his most recent start last Friday, when he allowed two runs over seven innings as the Mets beat the Atlanta Braves 12-7. He is the first New York rookie pitcher to win his first two starts since Kodai Senga in 2023. McLean has never faced the Phillies.

Walker didn't factor into the decision last Friday after giving up three runs over five innings in the Phillies' 5-4 loss to the Washington Nationals. He is 1-4 with a 4.86 ERA in 12 career games (nine starts) against the Mets, for whom he pitched in 2021 and 2022.

--Field Level Media