Nolan McLean hit hard as Mets drop 10 games under .500

NEW YORK -- Nolan McLean is struggling for the first time since making his major league debut for the New York Mets last August.

He has pitched poorly in consecutive starts, with his ERA ballooning from 2.92 to 4.40 after he allowed a career-worst seven runs in a career-low 3 innings during a 7-2 loss to the Cincinnati Reds on Monday. New York lost its fourth straight game, and outfielder Tyrone Taylor became the latest player to get hurt.

"I could sit here and say, 'Well, we're worried,'" Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said. "We're not putting ourselves in a good position, obviously. I've been saying it: 'It's not early anymore.'"

New York has scored four runs and struck out 41 times during its latest skid, dropping to 22-32 at the one-third mark -- one shy of its season low of 11 games under .500 at 10-21. A big league-best 45-24 at the start of play June 13 last year, the Mets are 60-87 since.

McLean is 1-4 in his past nine starts.

"Just haven't been pitching my best, and I've got to be better," he said.

A 24-year-old right-hander, McLean went 5-1 with a 2.06 ERA in eight starts for the Mets last year and earned a rotation spot for the U.S. in this year's World Baseball Classic.

After allowing career worsts of nine runs and six earned runs in a 9-6 loss atWashingtonlast week, he struck out the side in the first inning against the Reds, only to lose his command in the second.

He hit Sal Stewart with a pitch, loaded the bases with a single and a walk, got Spencer Steer to ground into an RBI forceout, then threw a run-scoring wild pitch.

JJ Bleday homered in the third, and Tyler Stephenson hit a two-run drive in the fourth after Steer's two-run single.

McLean thought he exerted too much energy between starts.

"I'm a guy, I try to get after it. And for me, I like to touch the mound," McLean said. "I think I was a little bit too much intent [on] touching the mound this past week, and it translated a little bit into some fatigue."

Batters are hitting .166 against McLean with the bases empty but .296 with runners on.

"We're going to have to go back and look at film and whether it's mechanics from the stretch, from the windup," Mendoza said. "Whatever the case, we've got to dive deep here because obviously something's off, for sure."

McLean threw just 47 of 78 pitches for strikes, including eight of 23 on sweepers.

"He's having a hard time landing the secondary pitches for strikes. There's a ton of movement, especially side to side," Mendoza said. "He's getting into bad counts."

Mets star Juan Soto missed his second consecutive game because he was sick and had a fever.

Taylor left because of right hip pain after grounding out in the sixth inning.

"He's going to get an MRI tomorrow," Mendoza said. "It's probably going to be an IL."

New York's batting order already was without shortstop Francisco Lindor (strained left calf), catcher Francisco Alvarez (surgery to repair a torn right meniscus in his right knee), designated hitter/first baseman Jorge Polanco (bruised right wrist) and outfielder Luis Robert Jr. (lumbar spine disk herniation).

"Things are going to change soon. We haven't had the chance to see what David Stearns put together this year," Lindor said, referring to the Mets' president of baseball operations. "I think it's been very few games that all of us are healthy at the same time. It's unfortunate, but this is the journey that we're in."

Sidelined since April 22, Lindor has started running and hitting indoors and will soon start fielding grounders.

"Continue to get stronger and stronger. The difference has been time," he said.

Jared Young, who last played April 12 because of a torn left meniscus, could be activated Tuesday. He has hit .227 with one RBI over 22 at-bats in six minor league games since May 15.

Left-hander A.J. Minter, returning from surgery May 12 last year to repair his left lat muscle, was to go through a throwing progression Monday and could be activated Tuesday or Wednesday. The 32-year-old reliever has a 1.59 ERA in 12 minor league outings since April 7, striking out seven and walking one in 11 innings.

"Every time you miss that much time, mentally, it's a grind," Mendoza said. "He's a big part of our bullpen."

Polanco, who last played April 14, was to work out Monday in Port St. Lucie, Florida, and could start a minor league injury rehabilitation assignment this week.

Alvarez, hurt May 12, could be back sooner than the original six-to-eight-week projection.

"He's already hitting. He's already doing catching," Mendoza said.

Right-hander Kodai Senga, who last pitched for the Mets on April 22 because of lumbar spine inflammation, was to throw a bullpen Monday and will make a second minor league rehab start Thursday. He allowed two runs, four hits and one walk with two strikeouts over 3 innings for Single-A St. Lucie on Friday, throwing 37 of 64 pitches for strikes.

New York is also missing right-hander Clay Holmes, out until late in the season because of a broken right leg.br/]