Poised rookie Nolan McLean takes up mantle for struggling Mets rotation in win over Braves

ATLANTA (AP) — The scuffling New York Mets have been in desperate need of a starter other than David Peterson to pitch deep into games.

Making his second major league start, Nolan McLean showed his Mets teammates he's no ordinary rookie.

McLean allowed four hits and two runs in seven innings during New York's 12-7 win over the Atlanta Braves on Friday night. And manager Carlos Mendoza was even more impressed that McLean (2-0) was so composed while pitching in the home park of the Braves, the team he cheered for while growing up in Willow Spring, North Carolina, on a night when Atlanta brought out a bevy of former stars to celebrate the 30-year anniversary of its 1995 World Series championship.

“At this point, I don’t know what else to say about it,” Mendoza said of McLean's second consecutive strong performance.

“You come in here and he’s probably got a lot of people in the stands, and against (that) team, and on a special night where they’re celebrating the 1995 team, and for him just to go out there and compete and be himself — it’s not easy to do."

McLean has a 1.78 ERA after two outings. He became the first Mets starter besides Peterson to last even six innings since Clay Holmes on June 7.

Mendoza hopes McLean's seven-inning start will create momentum for the staff.

“I mean, that’s in the past,” Mendoza said. “Hopefully now guys can feed off each other and (it's) kind of contagious. And now, we’re going to need those guys. We know how important they are and we’ve got to get them going. ... We’re going to need all of them.”

The Braves' collection of Hall of Famers on the field for the pregame ceremony included pitchers Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine and John Smoltz and third baseman Chipper Jones, who was McLean's favorite player as a kid. Hall of Fame manager Bobby Cox also returned for the ceremony.

Some might have expected McLean to avoid taking in the festivities in order to remain focused on his task. Instead, he wanted to see every second.

“I was trying to watch,” McLean said. “I think any time that you can get to watch something like that is really cool. And I mean, those guys are some of the best to do it. ... That was one heck of a team they had at that time. So, I got to soak that stuff in just because it is part of the game and it’s really cool to see players coming back and getting celebrated like that.”

McLean said it was “kind of surreal” to pitch in Atlanta, knowing that Smoltz, Glavine and Maddux were watching. It was also special to see Jones.

“I was a fan of Chipper,” McLean said. “Got to meet Chipper in high school. I got to hit with him in the cage a little bit, and he was a super down-to-earth guy and a straight shooter. And I mean, it’s cool whenever your childhood hero is who you think they’re going to be.”

Mendoza said the terrific performance on such a stage showed McLean can also become a star.

"This just goes to show you, man, that this kid is special,” the manager said.

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB

American former Atlanta Braves professional baseball player Bobby Cox waves to the crowd before a baseball game Friday, Aug. 22, 2025, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)

New York Mets pitcher Nolan McLean (26) looks on in the first inning of a baseball game against the Atlanta Braves, Friday, Aug. 22, 2025, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)

New York Mets pitcher Nolan McLean (26) delivers in the first inning of a baseball game against the Atlanta Braves, Friday, Aug. 22, 2025, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)

New York Mets pitcher Nolan McLean (26) delivers in the first inning of a baseball game against the Atlanta Braves, Friday, Aug. 22, 2025, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — President Donald Trump is set to meet Thursday at the White House with Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado, whose political party is widely considered to have won 2024 elections rejected by then-President Nicolás Maduro before the United States captured him in an audacious military raid this month.

Less than two weeks after U.S. forces seized Maduro and his wife at a heavily guarded compound in Caracas and brought them to New York to stand trial on drug trafficking charges, Trump will host the Nobel Peace Prize laureate Machado, having already dismissed her credibility to run Venezuela and raised doubts about his stated commitment to backing democratic rule in the country.

“She’s a very nice woman,” Trump told Reuters in an interview about Machado. “I’ve seen her on television. I think we’re just going to talk basics.”

The meeting comes as Trump and his top advisers have signaled their willingness to work with acting President Delcy Rodríguez, who was Maduro’s vice president and along with others in the deposed leader's inner circle remain in charge of day-to-day governmental operations.

Rodríguez herself has adopted a less strident position toward Trump and his “America First” policies toward the Western Hemisphere, saying she plans to continue releasing prisoners detained under Maduro — a move reportedly made at the behest of the Trump administration. Venezuela released several Americans this week.

Trump, a Republican, said Wednesday that he had a “great conversation” with Rodríguez, their first since Maduro was ousted.

“We had a call, a long call. We discussed a lot of things,” Trump told reporters. “And I think we’re getting along very well with Venezuela.”

In endorsing Rodríguez, Trump has sidelined Machado, who has long been a face of resistance in Venezuela. She had sought to cultivate relationships with Trump and key advisers like Secretary of State Marco Rubio among the American right wing in a political gamble to ally herself with the U.S. government. She also intends to have a meeting in the Senate on Thursday afternoon.

Despite her alliance with Republicans, Trump was quick to snub her following Maduro’s capture. Just hours afterward, Trump said of Machado that “it would be very tough for her to be the leader. She doesn’t have the support within or the respect within the country. She’s a very nice woman, but she doesn’t have the respect.”

Machado has steered a careful course to avoid offending Trump, notably after winning last year’s Nobel Peace Prize, which Trump coveted. She has since thanked Trump and offered to share the prize with him, a move that has been rejected by the Nobel Institute.

Machado’s whereabouts have been largely unknown since she went into hiding early last year after being briefly detained in Caracas. She briefly reappeared in Oslo, Norway, in December after her daughter received the Nobel Peace Prize on her behalf.

The industrial engineer and daughter of a steel magnate began challenging the ruling party in 2004, when the nongovernmental organization she co-founded, Súmate, promoted a referendum to recall then-President Hugo Chávez. The initiative failed, and Machado and other Súmate executives were charged with conspiracy.

A year later, she drew the anger of Chávez and his allies again for traveling to Washington to meet President George W. Bush. A photo showing her shaking hands with Bush in the Oval Office lives in the collective memory. Chávez considered Bush an adversary.

Almost two decades later, she marshaled millions of Venezuelans to reject Chávez’s successor, Maduro, for another term in the 2024 election. But ruling party-loyal electoral authorities declared him the winner despite ample credible evidence to the contrary. Ensuing anti-government protests ended in a brutal crackdown by state security forces.

Janetsky reported from Mexico City. AP Diplomatic Writer Matthew Lee in Washington contributed to this report.

FILE - U.S. President George Bush, right, meets with Maria Corina Machado, executive director of Sumate, a non-governmental organization that defends Venezuelan citizens' political rights, in the Oval Office of the White House, Washington, May 31, 2005. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak, File)

FILE - Opposition leader Maria Corina Machado gestures to supporters during a protest against President Nicolas Maduro the day before his inauguration for a third term, in Caracas, Venezuela, Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos, file)