The Mets need some unlikely heroes right now and they got on Wednesday in the form of DJ Stewart.
The outfielder hit two runs home to bring his total to three in the last 48 hours to help the Mets slug past the Pittsburgh Pirates 8-3 on Wednesday afternoon at Citi Field. Pete Alonso also hit his 36th home run to move into sole possession all-time of 10th place on the franchise’s all-time RBI career RBI list with 465.
After dropping two of three during the worst stretch of the season in Pittsburgh (54-67) in June, the Mets (55-66) took this series by the same score.
Stewart sparked a second-inning rally with a leadoff shot off right-hander Johan Oviedo (6-13). The Mets went up 3-0 in the inning thanks to a two-run double by Francisco Lindor, but the Pirates came right back to score two in the top of the third.
In the fifth, the visitors went to the bullpen after Oviedo walked Alonso to lead off the inning. Ryan Borucki retired Jeff McNeil before walking Daniel Vogelbach and giving up a massive, three-run bomb to Stewart to pad the Mets’ lead.
Alonso took left-hander Jose Hernandez over the left-center fence to lead off the bottom of the seventh. The rally ultimately fell short when Brandon Nimmo stranded the bases loaded, but the Mets still managed one more run.
It was great for Stewart and Alonso, but the most encouraging part of the day might have been the improvements shown by right-hander Tylor Megill. There were still some inefficiencies and bad counts, but Megill’s five-inning performance still trended in the right direction, especially compared to his last two starts when he gave up a total of 10 earned runs against the Baltimore Orioles and Atlanta Braves (five in each start).
Megill (7-6) allowed baserunners in the first and second innings before Pittsburgh got to him in the third. Ke’Bryan Hayes led off with a double and Bryan Reynolds homered. But he gave the Pirates nothing further. Megill retired the side in order in the fourth and got out of the fifth with the help of an outfield assist from Jeff McNeil.
Megill held the Pirates to just two earned runs on five hits, he walked two and struck out five to pick up his first win since June 16.
Like the rest of the Mets’ starting staff, Megill has been unable to find any sort of consistency this weekend and the organization hasn’t been able to figure out why one of their most important young pitchers has taken a step back in his development. But they need to figure it out as Megill and left-hander David Peterson are important pieces for the future.
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