McLean spins gem, makes history in Mets’ sweep
Three games into his major league career, Nolan McLean has already accomplished something Tom Seaver, Dwight Gooden, Jacob deGrom or anyone else wearing a New York Mets uniform could not.
McLean became the first Mets pitcher to win his first three MLB starts, tossing eight marvelous innings Wednesday night in a 6-0 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies that completed a three-game sweep.
“He’s a stud, man,” Mets infielder Mark Vientos said with a grin. “It’s so fun to be a part of what he does on day-to-day basis.”
Facing the Phillies, who entered Wednesday with the second-best batting average in the majors, the 24-year-old right-hander allowed four hits and walked none with six strikeouts. He threw 95 pitches — just 55 through the first six innings.
“Top to bottom, they’re stacked with hitters,” McLean said. “So I definitely knew I had to bring some good stuff tonight.”
Showing off an arsenal that includes a sharp-breaking curveball in the high 70s (mph), a sweeper and a fastball clocked in the mid-90s, McLean retired 15 straight batters following Alec Bohm‘s second-inning single and faced the minimum into the seventh.
“All I can say is wow,” Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said. “It’s just everything about the kid — not only what we’re seeing on the mound, just the way he carries himself. He’s got electric stuff, but he’s got pitchability. He knows what he’s doing on the mound. He knows how to manipulate the baseball. He knows what hitters are trying to do. He’s not afraid to use all his pitches.”
The Phillies mounted their lone threat in the eighth, when Bohm and Max Kepler opened the inning with singles. McLean preserved the shutout by retiring Nick Castellanos and Bryson Stott on medium-depth fly outs and inducing Harrison Bader to hit a squibber back toward the mound.
“I felt like he had good stuff,” Phillies slugger Kyle Schwarber said. “He moves the ball around really good and he was filling up the zone. I felt like he made some pitches when he needed to make some pitches.”
McLean pounded his right fist into his glove as the Citi Field crowd of 41,893 roared.
“He doesn’t shy away from big moments,” Vientos said. “Three starts — it’s been big moments and good teams and he’s done his thing.”
New York has gone 8-3 since McLean was called up from the minors to pull within four games of the National League East-leading Phillies. McLean, who went seven innings in a 12-7 win at Atlanta last Friday, and All-Star lefty David Peterson are the only Mets starters to last at least seven innings since June 2.
“We’ve been missing that type of performance pretty much the whole year,” Mendoza said.
McLean lowered his ERA to 0.89 — also the lowest in team history for a rookie in his first three starts. Seaver, a 300-game winner and Hall of Famer, held the mark previously with a 1.19 ERA over his first three starts in 1967.
McLean’s stellar numbers also make him the first pitcher in Mets history with a sub-1.00 ERA and 20-plus strikeouts through three career starts (0.89 ERA, 21 K’s), according to ESPN Research. Additionally, his 21 strikeouts are tied for the third most in Mets history over a pitcher’s first three career starts, trailing only Matt Harvey and Nolan Ryan.
“I’ve always been a believer in my stuff. I’m a confident guy,” McLean said. “Obviously, the hitters here are the best in the world and I know that. But I also know I have good stuff. And if I go out there and execute, I can get a lot of guys out as well.”
Mets catcher Francisco Alvarez, on the injured list with an ulnar collateral ligament sprain in his right thumb, exited his first rehab game with Triple-A Syracuse after he was hit by a pitch on his left pinkie.
Alvarez was 1 for 2 with a double before leaving the game.
“He’s getting checked out right now,” Mendoza said.
Jose Siri (broken left leg) and Jesse Winker (back) also made their rehab debuts for Class-A St. Lucie. Siri, who hasn’t played for the Mets since April 12, drew a walk and was hit by a pitch. Winker, on the injured list since July 11, was 0 for 2.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
All the Toronto Blue Jays had to do after losing an 18-inning epic in Game 3 of the 2025 World Series was bounce back quickly — and beat starting pitcher/DH Shohei Ohtani and the Los Angeles Dodgers in Game 4.
Well, they did just that — and the Fall Classic is tied at 2-2. With the series sure to head back to Toronto, what will happen in the final game in L.A.? Game 5’s winner will be one victory from a ring; the loser will be one loss from heartbreak.
Follow all the action — from live analysis during the game to our postgame takeaways — right here.
Key links: World Series schedule, results
Live analysis
Gamecast: Follow the action pitch-by-pitch here
The Minnesota Twins are hiring former Pittsburgh Pirates manager Derek Shelton to be the team’s new manager, sources confirmed to ESPN’s Jeff Passan on Wednesday.
Shelton, who was fired on May 8 as the Pirates quickly slipped into last place in the National League Central, will replace Rocco Baldelli, who was fired by Minnesota on Sept. 29.
The 55-year-old Shelton was the bench coach for the Twins in 2018 and 2019 under two different managers, Paul Molitor and Baldelli.
New York Yankees hitting coach James Rowson, who held that role for the Twins under both Molitor and Baldelli before leaving to become bench coach of the Miami Marlins in 2020, was also one of the finalists. Former Seattle Mariners manager Scott Servais and current Chicago Cubs bench coach Ryan Flaherty reportedly were in the mix, too.
The Twins are one of nine MLB teams who have changed managers this year.
Shelton was named manager of the Pirates in November 2019 as part of a franchise-wide reset by owner Bob Nutting. It was his first major league managing job after serving as a coach in various capacities in Tampa Bay, Toronto and Minnesota, and he went 306-440 in his five-plus seasons with Pittsburgh.
Pittsburgh won less than 40% of its games in Shelton’s first three seasons before taking a step forward in 2023 when it won 76 games. Paul Skenes‘ arrival in 2024 gave the franchise another jolt, and the Pirates were in playoff contention until an August swoon. In 2025, the Pirates’ offense under Shelton languished near the bottom of the NL.
The Twins, who were expected to contend for the AL Central title this season, faltered in June and became active at the trade deadline, sending away 10 players while cutting $26 million from the payroll. The team went 23-43 after the All-Star break to finish fourth in the division with a 70-92 mark.
It was the fourth-worst record in the major leagues and their worst mark since 2016.
Attendance swooned at Target Field this season, with the Twins finishing with an 81-home game total of a little more than 1.7 million tickets sold, their lowest number in a non-pandemic season since 2000, when they played at the Metrodome and finished 69-93.
Fans mostly have directed their disdain toward ownership, with deep frustration over cost cutting that came after the 2023 breakthrough Baldelli led with the end of a record 18-game postseason losing streak and the club’s first win of a playoff series in 21 years.
Executive chair Joe Pohlad and his family members put the franchise up for sale in 2024, but decided in August to keep control and bring on two new investment groups for an infusion of cash to help pay down debt.
The New York Post first reported news on Shelton’s hiring by the Twins.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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Jesse Rogers
LOS ANGELES — Blue Jays designated hitter George Springer won’t start Game 5 of the World Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers on Wednesday, but Toronto manager John Schneider indicated Springer could be available off the bench.
Springer, who also missed Game 4 after leaving Game 3 early with right side discomfort, did some hitting in the batting cage and some running Wednesday.
“George is feeling better,” Schneider said Wednesday afternoon. “I think better than he expected to feel, better than we expected him to feel, which is saying a lot.”
Bo Bichette will serve as the team’s DH in place of Springer in Game 5 while Isiah Kiner-Falefa will start at second base.
The 36-year-old Springer left Monday’s contest after taking an awkward swing in the seventh inning of the Dodgers’ eventual 18-inning victory. He is 3-for-11 with two runs scored in the World Series, which is tied 2-2.
He has been a key member of the Blue Jays’ postseason run but is likely to watch at least one more game before the Series takes a day off Thursday. With the extra time to heal, it means Springer could be ready for Friday’s Game 6 in Toronto.
“He’s had an unbelievable year, and I think that he has done a phenomenal job of kind of setting the tone for us, not just at the plate but in the clubhouse and keeping tabs on guys,” Schneider said. “It’s been fun to watch him. It’s been really fun after a tough year last year for him and us.”
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