The New York Mets hosted the Cincinnati Reds at Citi Field in Flushing, New York, on May 25, 2026, at 4:10 PM, with Nolan McLean starting for the Mets and Nick Lodolo taking the mound for the Reds.
McLean, who entered the game 2-3 with a 3.57 ERA after 10 starts and 58 innings in 2026, is the Mets’ point man in a spot game that matters because New York has lost three straight and scored just four runs over its last four contests. Lodolo came in at 0-1 with a 7.20 ERA and three starts for 15 innings this season; he was coming off a turn in which he allowed three runs on three hits and five walks over 5 2/3 innings.
The box-score lines set up a clear test: McLean has been workmanlike enough through 58 innings to give the Mets a chance, while Lodolo has shown the command issues that feed big innings if opponents capitalize. The teams arrived at Citi Field with different recent résumés — the Mets 22-31 and searching for answers after a sweep in Miami, the Reds 27-25 but struggling through a poor May in which they were 7-14 and suffered an eight-game losing streak earlier in the month.
Elliot Teichman, surveying the matchup, put the situation plainly: the Mets are coming off a rough road trip after being swept in Miami and are hoping to reset back home; he also noted that New York managed only four runs across its last four games and carries a three-game losing streak into the series. Those short-term numbers frame why the choice of starter matters more than usual — with the offense sputtering and a slim margin for error, a lengthening outing from McLean would relieve pressure on a lineup that has underperformed.
There are additional obstacles for the Mets to overcome. Juan Soto sat his second straight game with flu-like symptoms, removing one of the team’s most reliable run producers from the lineup and deepening the immediate urgency. On the other side, Cincinnati comes in with scars from an early-May collapse that included three consecutive walk-off losses to the Cubs and a run of eight straight defeats; the Reds’ 7-14 May record made this series into a potential reset for them as well.
The tension in this spot is structural. The Mets’ starters have to eat innings because the club has not been scoring — four runs in four games is not enough margin for error. McLean’s 3.57 ERA and 10 starts suggest he can provide quality innings, but the Mets’ recent offensive drought and Soto’s absence mean any shaky stretch from the starter will magnify into a lost game. Lodolo’s peripheral numbers — the walks in his last outing, a 7.20 ERA and only 15 season innings — create the counterpoint: a Reds starter who can be chased early would hand the struggling Mets a chance, but only if New York can push runs across.
Context deepens the stakes: the Mets returned from Miami having been swept and carrying a short list of injured or unavailable regulars identified in team notes, including Francisco Lindor, Clay Holmes, Francisco Alvarez, Kodai Senga, Luis Robert Jr, Jorge Polanco, Ronny Mauricio, Jared Young and Mike Tauchman. The accumulation of absences has turned what might have been a routine three-game set into a pressure cooker for a club sitting at 22-31.
This afternoon’s game will answer a narrow but decisive question: can McLean provide length and keep the Mets within striking distance of an offense that has been largely silent, or will Lodolo’s impending command issues produce the kind of early trouble that forces New York to chase? The safer bet, given the facts on hand, is that the matchup will hinge on small margins — a walk here, a stranded runner there — and which club can seize the few opportunities either pitching staff hands over.
If McLean pitches deep and the Mets find even one inning of offense without Soto, they have an immediate route back toward respectability at Citi Field; if not, the team’s three-game losing streak and paltry run production are likely to look less like a temporary slump and more like a season-long problem that needs structural fixes beyond one start.
