CLEVELAND — Nolan McLean experienced a difficult outing Thursday during the Mets’ 13-6 victory over the Cleveland Guardians at Progressive Field. The rookie pitcher allowed five earned runs on eight hits, along with three walks and eight strikeouts over five innings, marking his toughest performance since May 25.

McLean struggled early, facing eight batters in the first inning and giving up two runs on three singles and two walks. After retiring 12 consecutive batters, his momentum faltered in the fifth inning when he allowed two straight singles with one out and then threw three consecutive balls to Nathaniel Lowe before ultimately delivering a fastball that Lowe drove over the right-field fence.

“I wasn’t able to locate the fastball that well today,” McLean said. “I always talk about off-speed [pitches] for strikes, and that was pretty much the only thing I had going for me today.”

This outing marked McLean’s first in his last nine starts in which he failed to pitch at least six innings. The eight hits he surrendered tied a personal career high. Despite the setback, he extended his career strikeout total to 213, ranking fifth in franchise history for a pitcher’s first 31 starts, trailing Dwight Gooden (276), Matt Harvey (234), Noah Syndergaard (221), and Kodai Senga (219).

Interim manager Andy Green praised McLean’s overall performance despite the rough patch. “He was in typical Nolan cruise control there for a while, spinning the baseball really well, mixing really well,” Green said, noting the sequence of 12 straight retired batters before the Guardians' fifth-inning rally. Green also highlighted the difficulty McLean faced after falling behind 3-0 in the count against quality hitters.

McLean acknowledged that the lineup composed entirely of left-handed batters added to the challenge. “Getting ahead in the count against anybody, righty or lefty, always helps,” he said. “If I just played a little bit better ahead in the count, it could have been a much better outing for me.”

Despite the personal struggles on the mound, McLean remained optimistic about the team’s overall performance, especially after the Mets completed a three-game sweep over Cleveland. “I think finding multiple ways to score like we did today, whether it was homers or grinding out at-bats and making them walk us in, that’s really cool to see,” he said. “Ideally, a better start out of me could help, too, but I appreciate the offense keeping me in it.”