Mets get Tylor Megill's best in strong start, eke out win over Blue Jays
Mets starting pitcher Tylor Megill throws to a Toronto Blue Jays batter in the first inning of baseball game action in Toronto, Monday, Sept. 9, 2024. Credit: AP/Jon Blacker
TORONTO — Tylor Megill wasn’t the starting pitcher the Mets expected Monday, but he provided exactly what they needed.
They eked out a 3-2 win over the Blue Jays after Megill replaced Paul Blackburn and produced one of his best outings in the past year-plus: six innings, no runs, one hit.
With a pair of runs in the top of the eighth — the first scoring on a wild pitch, the next on a passed ball — the Mets snagged their 10th win in 11 games, improved to 79-65 and moved a game ahead of Atlanta for the last National League wild-card berth.
“Today was a good team win,” manager Carlos Mendoza said. “When it was hard for us, we found a way.”
The Mets had only three hits, so the high-end pitching was key. Megill provided plenty, especially after the Blue Jays mounted a two-out threat in the bottom of the first, loading the bases and spurring a mound visit by pitching coach Jeremy Hefner.
Megill got Alejandro Kirk to ground out, beginning a streak of 16 consecutive batters retired.
“After that, he was pretty much in complete control of the game,” Mendoza said.
Megill said: “I threw the ball great tonight, so I felt good. Everything was working.”
This was only the second time in 13 tries this season that Megill held the opposing team scoreless. The other came on May 28, when he shut out the Dodgers for seven innings.
For Megill, this marked the last in a weird several days.
On Saturday, the Mets told him he had been demoted to the bullpen for the second time this season, another show of decreased confidence in the righthander, who has received so many chances in the rotation.
On Sunday, they said wait, actually; he needed to start Monday in place of Blackburn, who was suffering from back discomfort.
And on Monday, Megill carved up the Blue Jays (68-77) with a six-pitch mix highlighted by a four-seam fastball and sinker. He struck out nine and walked two.
“Nothing changes,” Megill said of the role shifts. “Just back out there on the mound competing.”
Blackburn’s back had bothered him for several days. The Mets figured he’d be ready for this game until it flared up most significantly on Sunday, when he tried running outside.
His best-case scenario involves pitching this weekend against the Phillies. Mendoza said they will give it a couple of days to see if he gets better or if he needs to go back to New York to be examined.
“I’ve never had anything like this,” Blackburn said. “We’re trying to get some things to calm down, relieve a little bit of pain that I have and go from there.”
Mendoza said: “This came out of nowhere pretty much.”
Danny Young and Jose Butto made the Mets’ late comeback necessary, combining to allow Toronto two runs with an unsexy rally in the bottom of the seventh: hit by pitch, single, single, hit by pitch (to force in a run), sacrifice fly.
Blue Jays reliever Tommy Nance returned the favor in the top of the eighth by walking two batters to help the Mets load the bases with nobody out. Pinch runners Tyrone Taylor and Eddy Alvarez — on his first day with the team — scored as pitches escaped catcher Brian Serven.
“We’ve been saying it: A lot of guys are going to walk through those doors and they’re going to contribute,” Mendoza said. “And today that was the case with [Alvarez]. He went into the game as the pinch runner and he goes out there and scores the winning run on a huge, huge jump.
“It goes to show you that everybody — the whole 28 guys and the guys who will continue to come through the clubhouse — will find a way.”
Tim Healey is the Mets beat writer for Newsday. Born on Long Island and raised in Connecticut, Tim has previously worked for the South Florida Sun Sentinel, the Boston Globe and MLB.com. He is also the author of “Hometown Hardball,” a book about minor league baseball in the northeast.
