Tylor Megill continues stepping up for Mets’ rotation in midst of NL Wild Card race

The Mets’ starting rotation continues to fuel their run down the stretch in the heated National League Wild Card race, and on Tuesday it was Tylor Megill’s turn to lead the charge.

The right-hander was spectacular again as he worked with a big lead for most of the night and held the lowly Washington Nationals lineup to just one unearned run on two hits while walking two and striking out four.

Megill suffered one tough inning when he lost command and was hurt by some rough infield defense in the top of the third, but he settled back in nicely and was able to limit the damage to just the one run on the evening.

“It was good overall,” he said postgame. “I ran into some difficulty getting behind hitters in the third, but settled back in and got some run support and I was getting ahead of hitters getting the ball in play the rest of the way.”

This marks the latest of a string of successful outings for Megill, who has been pitching tremendously after being reinserted into the big-league rotation in place of injured right-hander Paul Blackburn.

New York now has victories in each of his last four outings and he’s allowed just four earned runs and zero home runs while striking out 22 batters and pitching to a stellar 1.69 ERA over that span.

“He’s bounced back in a tremendous way,” Pete Alonso said. “Every time he takes the ball he’s had moxie, he’s had poise and he’s executed. It’s been unbelievable, he’s thrown the ball really well for us. I hope he keeps doing it, it’s been really fun to watch.”

And it’s not just Megill who has been dominating over the past few weeks, as the Mets’ starting rotation as a whole has been extremely spectacular as they look to keep hold of their Wild Card spot down the stretch.

With Tuesday’s victory, the club is now 11-4 in September and their starters have pitched to a league-leading 1.90 ERA and 0.90 WHIP over that span.

“It’s contagious,” Carlos Mendoza said. “One guy takes the ball and gives you six or seven innings then the next guy thinks to himself I have to go out and match that or be better, it’s a healthy competition. It keeps our bullpen fresh and our defense has been helping them a lot, so as a team, we’re doing a lot of good things.”