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PHILADELPHIA — In a lot of ways, this was the Mets A-Team.

Five starts into his career, Nolan McLean has a legitimate case to be a Game 1 starter in the postseason. Following the rookie righty were some of the best arms Carlos Mendoza could unleash — Gregory Soto, Brooks Raley, a rebounding and fireballing Ryan Helsley — to keep the game close. If the club was going to have any faint hope of launching a comeback in the division, this series opener could prove pivotal.

At a moment when the Mets can at the least run away from competition in the wild-card race, Mendoza managed as if he badly wanted this

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