Protection let down a pair of Mets pitchers.
Their very own protection, that’s.
Pricey errors by Tylor Megill and reliever José Castillo led to 4 unearned runs within the Mets’ 8-4 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays on a soggy Saturday in Queens.
Megill’s miscue was notably back-breaking, because it extended a five-run fourth inning during which the Rays pounded the right-hander.
“When you give good teams extra outs, extra bases, they’re going to make you pay for it,” supervisor Carlos Mendoza mentioned.
The defeat clinched the Mets’ first sequence loss at Citi Subject in additional than a month and solely their second of the season.
After rain delayed the beginning of Saturday’s sport by 51 minutes, the Mets took a 2-1 lead going into the fourth. However 21-year-old Rays phenom Junior Caminero shortly tied the rating with a no-doubt, 409-foot residence run to guide off the body.
The Rays scored their subsequent run when Taylor Partitions laid down a one-out bunt with runners on first and third.
Megill fielded the ball and glanced residence, however, realizing the go-ahead run was going to attain, tried to take the straightforward out at first. The ball squirted out of Megill’s hand, nonetheless, which allowed Partitions to succeed in on the error.
“[The ball was] definitely wet,” Megill mentioned, “but at the same time, I should get my hand in the glove and secure it instead of trying to flip it into my hand.”
Megill struck out Josh Lowe for the second out of the inning, however he didn’t retire one other batter.
Brandon Lowe and Yandy Díaz delivered back-to-back RBI singles, and after a stroll to Jonathan Aranda, Megill threw a run-scoring wild pitch that put the Mets behind 6-2.
The ultimate three runs of the inning had been unearned.
“He kind of spiraled,” Mendoza mentioned of Megill. “Base hit. Base hit. I felt like there were a lot of non-competitive pitches. Especially the secondaries, [there] were a few pitches, ball out of the hand, where he’s bouncing them, and then when he came in the zone, they were all over him. So, he lost it there, pretty much.”
Megill was charged with six runs (three earned) in 3.2 innings — his second-shortest begin of the season — and gave up seven hits and two walks in opposition to 5 strikeouts. He additionally hit two batters.
4 of these hits got here within the fourth inning, as did each walks and one of many hit batsmen. Megill exited to boos from some inside a crowd of 41,662.
“I kind of put myself in tough situations,” Megill mentioned. “I pitched to put the ball in play. Could have had better two-strike execution. I made some quality pitches there, some soft contact, and a couple of walks.”
After recording a 3.52 ERA over his first 11 begins, Megill has pitched to a 5.52 ERA over his final three.
“The outings he’s been good, he’s attacking, especially with the fastball, not trying to be perfect all the time,” Mendoza mentioned.
The Mets minimize into their deficit within the fifth inning when Ronny Mauricio’s solo residence run and Brandon Nimmo’s RBI single — each with two outs — in opposition to Rays starter Drew Rasmussen made it a 7-4 sport.
However the momentum shifted again to Tampa Bay instantly when Castillo dropped a routine throw from Pete Alonso at first base to start the sixth.
José Buttó changed Castillo, and on his very first pitch, Díaz struck an RBI triple off of the right-field wall. That run, too, was unearned.
Juan Soto went 0-for-4, together with a double play, marking the primary time in 16 video games that he failed to succeed in base. Alonso reached base for the twenty second sport in a row, as an eighth-inning single saved the streak.
Brett Baty hit his eighth residence run with a third-inning solo shot in opposition to Rasmussen, who allowed 4 runs in 5 innings.
However that wasn’t sufficient for the Mets (45-26), who additionally misplaced the sequence opener, 7-5, on Friday evening. The Rays (38-32) rode an enormous inning to victory in that sport, too, by scoring six runs within the sixth.
The Mets had not misplaced a sequence at Citi Subject because the Arizona Diamondbacks received back-to-back video games there on April 30 and Might 1. The Mets are actually 10-2 in sequence at residence.
They’ll try to forestall being swept for the primary time this season on Sunday, with Griffin Canning (6-2, 3.22 ERA) scheduled to pitch for the Mets and Shane Baz (5-3, 4.97 ERA) set to start out for Tampa Bay.
Initially Printed: June 14, 2025 at 8:10 PM EDT
