BALTIMORE — The Mets have often touted the “peripherals” of their struggling starters, saying their underlying numbers indicate good things to come.
This was the case before Tylor Megill made his first start since June 21 on Saturday at Camden Yards. There were some good peripherals — like his early-innings velocity — but the overall results still weren’t there, as the Mets fell 7-3 to the Baltimore Orioles. It was the fifth straight loss for the Mets and the second straight series defeat.
The Mets (50-60) and Megill have been equally flummoxed this season as to why the big right-hander has struggled. Megill (6-5) was hit hard from the start Saturday, giving up a two-run home run to Gunnar Henderson before recording a single out.
After joining the team in Baltimore to take the place of one of the pitchers the Mets traded away at the Tuesday deadline, Megill lasted only 4 2/3 innings, exiting after giving up five earned runs on nine hits and striking out three.
Megill gave up runs in the first, third, fourth and fifth innings. He retired the side in order only once. He was laboring and struggling with the pitch clock by the end. With one out in the fifth, Anthony Santander got the green light on 3-0 and drove the ball 406 feet for a home run. Megill got the next out but then gave up a hard single to Ryan Mountcastle before Buck Showalter came out of the dugout and signaled for the reliever.
Kyle Gibson (10-6) held the Mets to three runs on four hits over seven innings, walking one and striking out nine.
Jeff McNeil was responsible for all three Mets’ runs, hitting just his fourth home run of the year in the fourth to get the Mets back in the game. With one on and one out, he pulled a ball over the right field fence for a two-run shot to cut the lead to 5-2. The ball barely stayed fair and barely cleared the fence, but it traveled just as far as it needed.
McNeil’s RBI single in the sixth brought the Mets to within striking distance at 5-2, but the Orioles came right back and took one off right-hander Grant Hartwig, who had taken over for Megill.
Hartwig was pushed to his limit, having him throw 2 1/3. The Mets used Phil Bickford for the third time since he joined the team in Kansas City on Wednesday and he gave one up too.
The rest of the season matters little, but the Mets have to figure out a way to fix their young pitchers if they want to build the type of winner they envision moving forward.
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