It was an overall quiet offensive night for both the Mets and the Blue Jays early as pitching and defense were the story of the night. The lone three runs surrendered by the Blue Jays, the games only runs, came off the bat of the red-hot Pete Alonso, who hit a two-run home run in the bottom of the first that scored Brandon Nimmo and gave the Mets a 2-0 lead, and a solo home run in the bottom of the eighth that extended the Mets’ lead over the Blue Jays to 3-0. The Mets held on to their lead through the ninth to defeat the Blue Jays 3-0 to open the weekend series at Citi Field. Box score

Tylor Megill took the mound for the Mets against former Met Steven Matz for the Blue Jays.

Megill started strong for the Mets striking out one in the top of the first and retiring two in a row after walking Bo Bichette.

The bottom of the first seemed it was going to be the deciding frame of the game as the Mets drew first blood off the bat of a long two-run home run by Pete Alonso that scored Brandon Nimmo who was walked by Matz to lead off the inning. Matz settled in and retired the next three batters he faced, including collecting two strikeouts to end the inning.

Both Megill and Matz were strong through the next three innings. Though they each gave up a hit in the second, neither pitcher would give up a run in that inning. They both cruised through the third and fourth innings as well with Megill collecting a strikeout in each inning and Matz striking out two in the bottom half of the third forcing two groundouts in the fourth.

Megill continued to roll on in the fifth. He gave up one single, but collected two strikeouts as well.

Matz began to struggle in the fifth. After retiring the first two batters he faced, Matz gave up back-to-back singles to Megill and Nimmo, but popped out Alonso to get out of trouble.

Megill retired the Blue Jays in order in the sixth, including an incredible assist from Michael Conforto who made a phenomenal diving catch to collect the second out of the inning. Matz faced the first three batters of the bottom half of the inning, but after giving up a walk to Conforto, he was replaced on the mound by Adam Cimber who collected the last out of the inning.

Seth Lugo replaced Megill on the mound for the Mets in the seventh. He started his relief outing well, giving up just one single in the top of the seventh.

Tayler Saucedo replaced Cimber on the mound for the Blue Jays in the bottom half of the seventh. He retired the Mets in order in his first inning of relief.

Trevor May came in to replace Seth Lugo on the mound for the Mets in the eighth. He retired the Blue Jays in order in his first inning of relief.

The bottom of the eighth is where the Mets began to rally and show signs of more life. Ryan Borucki replaced Saucedo on the mound for the Blue Jays. After striking out Nimmo, Borucki gave up a solo home run to the home run derby champion Pete Alonso who hit his second home run of the night to extend the Mets’ lead over the Blue Jays to 3-0. It was a long, 450 foot home run that Alonso knew off the bat was going out of the park.

Borucki then struck out Dominic Smith for the second out of the game, but that strikeout was followed by a single by J.D. Davis to keep the Mets’ offensive momentum alive. Borucki then retired Conforto to end the inning, but not before the Mets extended their lead over the Blue Jays to 3-0 heading into the ninth inning.

Edwin Diaz came in to close out the ninth for the Mets, replacing Trevor May on the mound. Diaz needed a strong outing after struggling through his last several outings and he did just that. Diaz retired the Blue Jays in order to get the save and solidify the Mets’ 3-0 victory over the Blue Jays. It was Diaz’s twentieth save of the year.

With the Mets defeating them 3-0, the Blue Jays suffered just their second shutout loss of the season as their offense was silenced by Megill and the Mets’ bullpen.

But the story was Pete Alonso who hit two home runs and drove in all three of the Mets’ RBI’s that were the determining factor of the game.

It was also a special night for Megill who collected his first big league win and first big league hit on Friday night against the Blue Jays.

The Mets and Blue Jays will continue their series on Saturday at 7:10PM at Citi Field. It will be Taijuan Walker on the mound for the Mets against Hyun Jin Ryu for the Blue Jays.