No one tasked Nolan McLean with saving this floundering team, and in the days leading up to his major-league debut , Mets manager Carlos Mendoza cautioned against viewing him as some sort of savior.

The goal, in fact, was modest in his start Saturday against the Mariners.

“Ideally, you just want it to end on a positive note,” Mendoza said before the game.

But that was not the McLean we saw in the Mets 3-1 win. Because it turns out, that when McLean said earlier this week that his “favorite thing to do” is compete, he really, really meant it.

By the time the Mets No. 3 prospect walked off the mound to a standing ovation in the sixth inning, he had done more than just end on a positive note, he managed to succeed where so many of the established starters in this rotation have faile

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