Mets offense wastes gritty Nolan McLean start in frustrating loss to Phillies

PHILADELPHIA — In a lot of ways, this was the Mets A-Team.

Five starts into his career, Nolan McLean has a legitimate case to be a Game 1 starter in the postseason. Following the rookie righty were some of the best arms Carlos Mendoza could unleash — Gregory Soto, Brooks Raley, a rebounding and fireballing Ryan Helsley — to keep the game close. If the club was going to have any faint hope of launching a comeback in the division, this series opener could prove pivotal.

At a moment when the Mets can at the least run away from competition in the wild-card race, Mendoza managed as if he badly wanted this one.

The lineup did not receive the message.

Bats that had rolled through August as the best in baseball have reached a stumbling block and have been held to eight total hits in their past two games.

Five hits (and no runs) was not enough against the Phillies in a 1-0 setback at Citizens Bank Park on Monday night, which ended with particular frustration — and the Mets trailing by eight games in the NL East.

Held down by Aaron Nola and the Philly bullpen, a rally finally began to form in the ninth against Jhoan Duran, the best arm the Mets would see all night.

Pete Alonso singled up the middle, and a double from Mark Vientos put the potential tying run on third and go-ahead run on second with one out.

But the best contact hitter the Mets have could not make contact — Jeff McNeil swung through 101.9 mph heat. Francisco Alvarez then struck out on three pitches as the Mets (76-68) lost a third straight and temporarily fell to 3 ½ games clear of the Giants and Reds, whose contests had not yet finished, for the final wild-card spot.

Wasted was a grittiness from McLean, who was not particularly sharp but was when he needed to be in a fifth career start and fifth time impressing.

The spin master allowed just one run on seven hits with three walks in 5 ¹/₃ innings, navigating out of jams that cost him length, but he yet again found a different way to impress.

The Mets truly threatened Nola (six scoreless innings) only in the second, when a one-out single from McNeil and a two-out single from Brett Baty put runners on the corners.

But a deeply struggling Cedric Mullins chased a diving knuckle-curve. The center fielder, who had begun to lose time to Tyrone Taylor before Taylor’s injury and who could lose time if and when Jose Siri is activated, is 0-for-26 in his past 10 games.

In the eighth inning against lefty Matt Strahm, Mendoza lifted Mullins from the game for pinch hitter Luisangel Acuña, who is normally a pinch runner or defensive replacement and has received just seven plate appearances in seven games since coming up as a Sept. 1 addition. Acuña flied out.

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The only run the Phillies needed came in the second, when Max Kepler singled, moved to third on a hit from Harrison Bader as the former Met got thrown out at second trying to stretch it, then scored on a Nick Castellanos single.