NEW YORK -- The Mets , as manager Carlos Mendoza put it, did not need Nolan McLean to play hero in his major league debut Saturday. They just wanted a good start, an outing that would give New York a chance to beat the Seattle Mariners and maybe, finally, ignite a turnaround after two-plus dismal months of baseball.

McLean did not put on a cape, but he delivered what the Mets needed, striking out eight hitters and flashing clutch leather over 5⅓ scoreless innings in the team's 3-1 win at Citi Field. The victory, the Mets' third in 17 games, snapped a three-game losing streak. Thanks to McLean's presence, it was accompanied by an amplified energy that was absent from the ballclub in recent weeks as the Mets played Whac-A-Mole, losing games in every which way possible.

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