Saturday night was a tryout of sorts for Tylor Megill.

The 2023 season is almost over and the Mets have roster questions to address for next season — the main one being the starting rotation. José Butto, Joey Lucchesi, and David Peterson had impressive outings in their last starts, and Megill had the opportunity to match them.

The night started out promising for Megill. He retired the side in order to begin the game, and came back out for the top of the second with a 1-0 lead. However, the second inning wasn’t as pretty and set the precedent for the rest of the night.

TJ Friedl led off the inning with a single and advanced to third two batters later after Christian Encarnacion-Strand singled. Friedl then came home on a costly mental error by Mauricio.

With Encarnacion-Strand taking off for second base, Francisco Álvarez attempted to pick off Friedl at third base instead of throwing out the runner. Mauricio was late getting to the bag, and the throw went into left field to score Friedl and tie the game at 1-1.

Base runners were Megill’s kryptonite on Saturday. He allowed at least one base runner every inning after the first, shortening his start and allowing the Reds multiple opportunities to score.

One of those opportunities came to fruition in the top of the fourth. After walking Joey Votto, Megill gave up a 428-foot homer to rookie Encarnacion-Strand. The blast extended the Reds’ lead to 3-1 and put the Mets behind for good.

The base runners ended Megill’s night prematurely. He lasted 5 2/3 innings, allowing nine hits, two walks, and three runs (two earned). Megill only struck out two batters.

The night could have been worse for Megill. The Reds were abysmal at the plate, and went 1-for-7 with runners in scoring position. They left a total of nine men on base.

Meanwhile, the Mets’ bullpen did their job to keep the offense in the game. Brooks Raley, Trevor Gott, and Adam Ottavino kept the Reds off the board and struck out six in 3 1/3 innings.

Gott had the shakiest outing out of the three. He walked two batters in the eighth and then faced a bases-loaded jam when Jeff McNeil committed an error with two outs. Gott, however, wasn’t phased by the base runners and struck out Will Benson to end the inning.

Despite the bullpens’ efforts, the Mets failed to strike back against the Reds. They trailed the Reds 3-2 after the fourth inning and couldn’t piece together one run to tie the game. They only had four base runners past the fourth as well.

The Mets’ only lead of the game came in the bottom of the first. With two outs and two on, Ronny Mauricio singled to left field to score Francisco Lindor and give the Mets a 1-0 lead.

The Mets’ second run came in the bottom of the fourth. Tim Locastro hit a double with one out and came home behind Álvarez’s two-out double.

The Mets’ best chance for redemption came in the bottom of the ninth. Daniel Vogelbach started a late rally with a one-out pinch-hit single. Then, with two outs, Álvarez extended the inning with another single to bring Pete Alonso to the plate.

With Alexis Díaz unavailable after his five-out save on Friday, Alonso got his chance against Derek Law. The two of them got into an epic seven-pitch at-bat, which ended in Alonso grounding out to third base and the Mets losing 3-2 to the Reds.

Relay Race

The Mets bullpen perfection came up short in the teams’ 3-2 loss. Raley, Gott, and Ottavino struck out six total batters in 3 1/3 scoreless innings.

On Deck

José Quintana takes the mound for the Mets on Sunday. The left-hander was solid in his last outing against the Diamondbacks, where he struck out four and allowed two earned runs in five innings.

The Reds will counter with southpaw Brandon Williamson. The Minnesota native is one of the many rookies to debut this season with the Reds and has a 4.47 ERA in 20 starts.

First pitch for Sunday’s matchup is scheduled for 1:40 p.m. The game will be televised on WPIX 11 and can be listened to on WCBS 880.