Livescore
In the first inning against the Toronto Blue Jays on Monday night, Tylor Megill like a pitcher who had been called into action on short notice, after the Mets’ right-hander surrendered a double sandwiched by two walks to load the bases with two outs.
But after a mound visit, Megill – who only found out he would be making the start in place of Paul Blackburn on Sunday – got a weak comebacker to end the threat and leave them loaded.
Those would be the last Toronto base runners Megill would allow as he retired 16 straight after loading the bases to finish a stellar six-inning scoreless outing with just one hit, two walks and nine strikeouts.
“I just wanted to go out and compete and give the team the best chance to win,” Megill said after the Mets’ 3-2 win.
Carlos Mendoza credited the spot starter for stepping up “when we needed it” and came away impressed by “a lot” of what Megill did.
“I thought the fastball was really good, he stayed on the attack,” Mendoza said. “The two-seam and the four-seam were the main pitches and then a little bit of the split there, too.”
The manager added: “I thought the two-seam to righties, he used it really well, especially to [Vladamir Guerro Jr.] And even to some of the lefties. And then the four-seam at the top, stay on the attack, was aggressive, it was a huge outing for us.”
On the night, he got 15 whiffs on 42 swings – seven on the fastball and four on the sinker – with another 13 called strikes – eight on the fastball – for a 32 percent called-strike whiff rate of his 88 pitches, 30 of which came in that first inning.
The right-hander’s self-assessment: “Threw the ball great tonight, everything was working,” adding later, “Overall I had really good command.”
On the bullpen’s night
Mendoza said that with the left-handed hitters coming up in the seventh, he decided to give the bullpen a clean inning with lefty Danny Young. But he and Jose Butto couldn’t hold onto the one-run lead giving up walks, a hit batter and sac fly.
“We had the matchups we wanted, we just got in trouble there,” he said. “Overall, guys that came in after did their part.”
The duo of Ryne Stanek and Edwin Diaz struck out four of the seven batters they faced to end it after the Mets capitalized on Toronto’s poor defense to score two runs to re-take the lead.
“We gonna need him,” the skipper said about Stanek after he struck out the side in the eighth. “And now the fastball got the life again, he’s staying on the attack and the split is always a good pitch for him, the slider versus righties, but I think the main thing is just the life on his fastballs.
“And for him to come in, and he’s facing the heart of the order that inning and he made pitches and it was a very good inning for him.”
Stanek threw 17 pitches and registered nine called strikes and whiffs, with three whiffs coming on the fastball – which averaged 97.1 mph (down 0.6 on the year) – and three on the splitter.
There was a bit of a scare with two down in the ninth and a runner on first when Leo Jimenez put a charge into a Diaz 98 mph fastball that reached the warning track and Starling Marte in right to end the game.
“Off the bat, we couldn’t tell because he hit it pretty well,” Mendoza said when asked if he thought the drive had a chance to ruin the Mets’ night. “Once I saw Marte kinda camp there, I was like ‘all right.’”
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