Mets right-hander Taylor Megill battled through another rough start in Tuesday night’s loss to the Chicago Cubs. After putting together perhaps his best first inning of the season, the right-hander labored from there on out.
Megill allowed a solo home run to Seiya Suzuki on the very first pitch of the second. He almost worked his way out of the inning without further damage, but a run-scoring infield single and two-run homer made it 4-0 Cubs after two.
The right-hander didn’t fare much better in the fourth inning.
After Tommy Pham inexcusably dropped a fly ball leading off the frame, Megill bared down to retire the next two batters. Chicago then strung together three straight two-out hits, increasing the lead to 6-1, ultimately bringing Megill’s outing to an end. He finished the night allowing six runs, four earned, on six hits over just 3.2 innings of work.
While the overall picture isn’t all too pretty, Mets manager Buck Showalter actually felt Megill pitched pretty well.
“I thought the stuff was pretty good but we didn’t do a whole lot offensively and didn’t play particularly well defensively behind him,” Showalter said. “I don’t think the numbers were indicative of how he pitched, wish we played a little crisper behind him.”
Megill wasn’t looking to make any excuses postgame, but he was also happy with how his stuff looked.
“The command was a little spotty but I feel like my stuff was playing well today. That’s just baseball, things tend to happen like that,” the right-hander said. “But no excuses, I just need to go out there and get the job done.”
Megill is now 5-3 with a 4.32 ERA, 1.48 WHIP, and just 40 strikeouts through ten starts on the season. He also hasn’t provided New York with much length, as he’s pitched past the fifth inning just twice.
While he is certainly frustrated to bring the Mets’ winning streak to an end, and ultimately labor through another start, Megill knows he just has to move on and prepare for his next start.
“What happened happened, turn the page, get going and get ready for the next one. Obviously I wanted to come out and keep the momentum going that we’ve had,” he said. “Just turn the page and get ready for the next one.”