Very few pitchers make it to the big leagues and find immediate, lasting success. Even the best of the best go through growing pains at some point early in their careers before things start to take off. Right now, Tylor Megill is right smack in the middle of those growing pains.
Friday night provided another painful reminder of that fact as the rookie right-hander allowed three home runs among five hits and four walks over four innings in a 5-1 loss to the playoff-bound Milwaukee Brewers at American Family Field.
Since opening the season 1-0 with a 2.04 ERA through seven starts, Megill is 2-5 with a 6.55 ERA and has allowed at least four earned runs in three of his last four outings.
The Mets staked him to an early lead Friday, going up 1-0 when Brandon Nimmo led off the game with a triple then scored when Francisco Lindor followed with a groundout to short.
After Javier Báez struck out, the next three batters reached to load the bases before Eric Lauer struck out James McCann to end the inning.
Lauer would allow just two more baserunners over the next 5 2/3 innings while striking out nine. After Kolten Wong tied the game with a leadoff homer in the bottom of the first, back-to-back blasts by Willy Adames and Christian Yelich put Milwaukee ahead for good in the third.
The loss was the Mets’ eighth in their last nine games and left them with an elimination number of three.
GAME HIGHLIGHTS:
Kyle leads sports coverage and hosts the Concrete Jungle podcast. Have a lead or question? Send it to [email protected].