TORONTO — Nolan McLean’s continued development is among the few compelling reasons to watch the Mets these days.
In what has been an inconsistent season for the rookie right-hander, nights like Tuesday offer a reminder of McLean’s elite stuff and the promise of his name in Cy Young Award conversations as his career progresses.
McLean limited walks and Toronto’s solid contact on this night, carrying the Mets to a 3-0 victory at Rogers Centre.
In a second sharp performance in his past three, McLean fired six shutout innings, allowing five hits and two walks while striking out seven.
McLean’s bullpen handled the rest, securing the Mets only their second victory in 11 games.
Francisco Alvarez and Luis Torrens each homered to give the Mets offensive highlights on a night Kevin Gausman was nearly as tough as McLean, allowing only one run over six innings.
McLean, whose ERA dropped to 3.78, rebounded from a shaky outing against the Cubs last week in which he allowed two homers and six earned runs.
This latest performance was his third in June with one earned run or less allowed and at least six innings pitched.
The Mets (36-50) can get a series victory — something they have not accomplished since beating the Braves two of three games in mid-June — when Freddy Peralta gets the ball Wednesday.
McLean escaped trouble in the fourth after surrendering a two-out double to Daulton Varsho and walking Luis Urías by retiring Yohendrick Piñango. Bo Bichette handled the tough short hop at third base and threw out Piñango.
Alvarez’s homer leading off the fifth gave the Mets a 1-0 lead. It was the ninth homer of the season for Alvarez and his fourth in nine games. Alvarez jumped on a 1-2 four-seam fastball from Gausman and cleared the center field fence.
McLean allowed an infield single to George Springer in the fifth before getting the final two outs. In the sixth he walked Ernie Clement before striking out Varsho and retiring Urías to conclude the inning.
Torrens homered in the seventh to extend the Mets lead to 2-0. Torrens jumped on a 2-2 cutter from lefty Mason Fluharty and cleared the right field fence for his second homer this season. Torrens’ other homer came June 5 in San Diego.
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Brett Baty’s sacrifice fly in the ninth scored A.J. Ewing, who singled leading off and reached second on an errant pickoff throw, giving the Mets their final run.
Brooks Raley, Luke Weaver and Devin Williams combined to roll through the final three innings scoreless. Weaver extended his scoreless innings streak to 24 over his past 22 appearances.
