– by Adesina O. Koiki
A Lot of Sports Talk editor-in-chief
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NEW YORK — One of the biggest debates surrounding a person whose name sounds like McLean is whether the 1988 blockbuster Die Hard, starring Bruce Willis as the New York police detective John McClane, can be classified as a Christmas movie given the plot being centered around happenings around Christmas Eve. On Saturday, with their season teetering on the brink of disaster and needing some salvation, the New York Mets turned to their own McLean, and in his first-ever game, he made the New York faithful desperate to see a win feel like it was Christmas, New Year’s Day and St. Patrick’s Day rolled up into one.
McLean, the top pitching prospect in the organization, provided a much-needed boost to the franchise in his Major League debut by not allowing a run while striking out eight as the Mets defeated the Seattle Mariners 3-1 inside Citi Field on Saturday afternoon. Francisco Lindor drove home the game’s first run with an RBI double in the third inning to put McLean in line for the win, while Edwin Díaz recorded the final six outs for the save.
*Editor’s note: Above the byline is the photo gallery from Saturday afternoon’s game, with photos taken by New Jersey-based photographer Vinnie Lucia. After clicking on a photo to enlarge the picture, press the left and right arrow buttons on either side of the caption to scroll through the rest of the pictures that appear on the first page. Also, click on the numbers and/or arrow appearing immediately below the picture grid to load the next set of photos. There are 17 pictures in total.
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