SAN FRANCISCO \u2014 Rookie right-hander Nolan McLean has legitimate ace upside. He dazzled in his debut last year, and is a favorite to win NL Rookie of the Year this season. In Friday night\u2019s 10-3 loss, the Giants witnessed first-hand why McLean is being hailed as next up in Queens.<\/p>\n
McLean, boasting a nasty repertoire of six pitches, started his night with five perfect, efficient innings, looking every bit of a star in the making as he silenced San Francisco\u2019s (3-5) offense. His final line looked ordinary (5 1\/3 innings, two runs, four strikeouts), but he earned his first win as Tyler Mahle allowed five runs over five frames and New York\u2019s (4-4) Francisco Alvarez hit two homers.<\/p>\n
\u201cI wouldn\u2019t take anything away from the outing, but if anything, he wasn\u2019t in the zone as often as he\u2019s capable of being at the very beginning,\u201d said manager Tony Vitello of McLean. \u201cI\u2019m kind of using that as almost a backwards compliment because he was still kind of able to induce bad swings and get guys to chase with stuff that\u2019s moving all over the place.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Giants have had to face several tough starters of McLean\u2019s caliber to start the season. Of the eight starting pitchers San Francisco has faced, four of them can be considered among the better arms in the game: McLean, Max Fried, Cam Schlittler and Nick Pivetta. Of those four, only McLean even allowed a run to the Giants.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s kind of like training at altitude,\u201d Vitello said. \u201cThere\u2019s going to be others, too, that we see that are really impressive. But to this point, I think our guys have gotten pushed pretty good. \u2026 I think the game plan stuff has been good. As the game goes on like tonight, I don\u2019t have the answers, to be honest with you, but I think you have to search for them as best you can when a guy like Pivetta\u2019s spinning that thing as well as he is or like tonight.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jerar Encarnacion made his first start of the season after infielder Casey Schmitt was scratched after being slated to start at first base. Encarnacion hit an opposite-field double, his first hit of the year, and scored a run.<\/p>\n
Mahle had a very rough first inning, allowing four hits and issuing two walks, but escaped the frame having only allowed two runs despite the Mets having opportunities to put up a crooked number. He helped his own cause by inducing a 1-2-3 double play after allowing the game\u2019s first four batters to reach base.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
The right-hander rebounded with back-to-back scoreless frames in the second and third, but New York put up three more runs in the fourth on a two-run home run by Semien and a solo shot by Alvarez. By inning\u2019s end, the Mets had a commanding 5-0 lead.<\/p>\n
\u201cI made some pitches in the first inning to limit damage, but ultimately, just too many pitches up in the zone kind of right where they wanted them,\u201d Mahle said. \u201cSo, just have to limit those and hopefully get deeper into these ballgames.\u201d<\/p>\n
Following five perfect innings by McLean, the Giants ended the perfect game, the no-hitter and the shutout in a stretch of four batters.<\/p>\n
Harrison Bader and Patrick Bailey drew back-to-back walks to begin the sixth, then Willy Adames plated the Giants\u2019 first run with a one-out ground-rule double. Lefty Brooks Raley entered the game to face the left-handed Rafael Devers and Luis Arraez, and Bailey scored from third on a passed ball that cut the Giants\u2019 deficit to 5-2.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t think he was even in a comfort zone as it related to the strike zone,\u201d said manager Tony Vitello. \u201cWe got a bunch of 3-2 counts, but every time push came to shove, he kind of seemed to come out on the winning side until we eventually kind of wore him down.\u201d<\/p>\n
In the top of the seventh, the Mets got those runs back and more. Alvarez hit his second homer of the night, a no-doubt solo shot off JT Brubaker, and Luis Robert Jr. and Mark Vientos both contributed RBI singles to put the Giants in an 8-2 deficit.<\/p>\n
The Giants scored a run in the bottom of the eighth on a bloop single by Arraez, but the Mets scored two runs off left-hander Erik Miller in the top of the ninth to put the game away.<\/p>\n
Worth noting<\/p>\n