Nolan McLean kept the Mets in it long enough for the offense to wake up, and that was enough Thursday night in a 4-2 win over the Marlins at the start of a four-game series.
The night didn’t begin cleanly. Weather pushed the game back a little over an hour, with showers arriving at the worst possible time, but once the first pitch finally came, both starters settled into a quiet early rhythm.
McLean and Eury Pérez traded zeroes through three innings, even if neither was completely spotless. McLean issued two walks in the first, while Pérez walked Francisco Alvarez in the third.
The first real damage came in the fourth, when Kyle Stowers led off with a line-drive home run to give Miami a 1-0 edge. From there, McLean regrouped and kept the Mets within striking distance, but New York’s bats still had to find their footing.
It took until the bottom of the fifth for the Mets to record their first hit off Pérez, a Marcus Semien single. Semien then stole second, but the inning ended with him stranded.
The breakthrough finally came in the sixth. Alvarez opened the frame with another walk, then moved up on an A.J.
Ewing groundball before Francisco Lindor brought him home with a single to tie the game. Bo Bichette followed with another hit, and after Carson Benge popped out, Luis Robert Jr. hit a ball that Graham Pauley misplayed, allowing Lindor to score and give the Mets a 2-1 lead.
That advantage didn’t last long. McLean struck out the first batter of the seventh, then watched Jakob Marsee turn a 3-0 pitch into a solo home run to even things up.
After a single by Pauley, McLean’s night was over. He finished with 6.1 innings, two runs allowed on six hits and two walks, and six strikeouts.
Brooks Raley took over, and after Esteury Ruiz came in as a pinch runner for Pauley and advanced to second on a passed ball, Joe Mack lined out to Bo Bichette, who doubled Ruiz off second to end the inning.
The Mets finally broke the tie in the eighth. Bichette doubled with two outs, Benge followed with a single, and then stole second to put two runners in scoring position.
Luis Robert Jr. delivered from there, lining a two-run double that put New York ahead for good. Miami got out of the inning with Robert still on second, but the comeback window was closing fast.
Devin Williams handled the ninth, working around a drawn-out leadoff plate appearance from Heriberto Hernández before getting the save. The Mets took the opener of the series, and now the rotation question shifts to Friday.
Freddy Peralta is scheduled to start, but with the trade deadline looming Monday and a deal looking possible, there’s no certainty he’ll actually take the mound. Janson Junk is set to start for the Marlins.
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