Mets' lack of offense spoils Nolan McLean's brilliant outing

ATLANTA — Nolan McLean allowed one hit — a homer — in six innings, but the Mets couldn’t get anything going offensively as they got three hits and fell to Atlanta, 4-0. Matt Olson’s two-run home run in the eighth put the game out of reach for the Mets, who are 6-2 since selling off most of their bullpen and two starting pitchers at the trade deadline.

Martin Perez (8-6) pitched six innings for Atlanta (72-48) and stretched his scoreless streak to 18 innings, the third-longest active starting streak in the majors behind Tampa Bay’s Drew Rasmussen and Miami’s Sandy Alcantara, both at 20 innings. Perez has not allowed a run since Francisco Lindor hit a two-run homer off him on July 27. The 35-year-old lefthander has given a huge boost to Atlanta’s injury-plagued rotation since being brought in as a non-roster addition for spring training.

Ozzie Albies homered in the fifth on an 0-and-2 pitch from McLean (8-8). Olson’s homer was his 35th of the season. Atlanta had only four hits.

Atlanta scored in the seventh without a hit, taking advantage of Jefry Yan’s wildness. The rookie didn’t get a chance to show off his strikeout celebration, walking three and throwing a wild pitch that set up Mauricio Dubon’s sacrifice fly.

Perez faced his only serious trouble in the sixth, when Bo Bichette walked with one out and raced to third on Luis Robert Jr.’s single to right. But Carson Benge hit into an inning-ending double play.

Both teams turned in defensive gems in the second inning, though only one resulted in an out. Atlanta shortstop Jim Jarvis made a diving stop on Benge’s hard grounder up the middle, hopped up and made a throw to first that beat the runner. But Olson’s foot barely came off the bag, and the call was changed to a hit after the Mets (53-68) challenged. A.J. Ewing made an out that did stand in the bottom half, racing toward the line for a belly-first grab on Dubon’s liner that appeared headed toward the corner.