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After an ugly but much-needed win versus the Yankees and a day off, the Mets returned to action against the struggling St. Louis Cardinals at Citi Field. Coming into tonight, the Mets entered the game with a 32-36 record and four games out of a Wild Card spot, while the Cardinals sat at 27-42, which put them 9.5 games out of first of the NL Central. A bounce-back performance on the mound led the Mets to a 6-1 win against the National League’s worst club.
Coming off a dismal effort in Pittsburgh, in which he gave up seven earned runs on eight hits in 3 2/3 innings, Tylor Megill bounced back strong and muscled through the Cardinals lineup with ease. Megill retired the first seven batters before giving up a one-out hit to Met killer Paul De Jong in the top of the third.
Megill finished his night with a season-high seven strikeouts and allowed only one earned run on four hits through six innings. Additionally, Megill’s fastball velocity rose up to 98 MPH on some pitches, allowing for his sharp-breaking ball to throw off the Cardinal hitters. Megill has been stellar at home, going 4-1 with a 2.79 ERA.
“Just gives you more confidence knowing that you got run support and you know you can put the ball in play,” said Megill after the game when asked about pitching with a lead. When asked about throwing Megill out there for six innings, Mets manager Buck Showalter noted “I’m trying to quit not thinking 6 is deep, but I’ve changed my thinking. I’m okay with that.”
Cardinals starter Miles Mikolas did not fare as well as Megill did, as he gave up six runs on eight hits through six innings. In the bottom of the first, Brett Baty hit a ball that went down the line to right field causing Starling Marte and Jeff McNeil to score that put the Mets up 2-0. Then, red-hot Tommy Pham hit a single to center allowing Baty to score, making it 3-0 in favor of the Mets.
In the bottom of the third, Francisco Lindor added to the scoring with a sacrifice fly to left bringing home Marte, and putting the Mets up 4-0. Tommy Pham would then hit another single, this time a sharp line drive to left, scoring McNeil and extending the Mets’ lead to 5-0.
Cardinals catcher Willson Contreras would knock a home run against Megill that stayed fair down the left field line to make it a 5-1 game. Daniel Vogelbach, after his mental health break, would then bust out the lumber in the bottom of the sixth and blasted a tape measure home run down the right field line into the Coca-Cola Corner to extend the Mets lead to 6-1.
Vogelbach gave credit to hitting coaches Jeremy Barnes and Eric Hinske for coming in for extra time to work with him during his week-long break. “That’s credit to the type of people we have around here,” Vogelbach said.
After Megill exited, the Mets bullpen held the fort as Dominic Leone (1.0 IP) and Josh Walker (2.0 IP) finished out the game only giving up one hit and four strikeouts to shut down the Cardinals for the win. In Leone’s last nine outings, eight have been scoreless, giving up only five hits in 10 1/3 innings pitched in that span. Megill goes to 6-4 on the season with a 4.83 ERA while Mikolas drops to 4-4 with a 4.36 ERA.
Stat Of The Game
The Mets victory over the Cardinals finished in just over two hours (2:01), which qualifies as the Mets’ quickest game this season. That’s the quickest 9-inning Mets game since May 19, 2019, which lasted 1 hr 59 min.
Player Of The Game: Tylor Megill
Tylor Megill was the standout star on the mound, as he bounced back strong going six innings, only giving up one run on four hits and striking out seven on 90 pitches thrown (56 strikes). Megill’s six-inning start means the Mets improve to 19-1 when their starting pitchers go at least six innings in a game. For a team desperately looking to turn their season around, the starting rotation giving out strong outings is vital and Megill’s performance versus the Cardinals is a good start in that direction for the Mets.
On Deck
The Mets to look for their third straight win as Kodai Senga (6-3, 3.34 ERA) toes the slab for the Mets, while old foe Adam Wainwright (2-1, 5.79 ERA) takes the mound for the Cardinals. The game will be broadcast on WPIX on television and on WCBS 880 AM radio. First pitch is scheduled for 4:10 p.m.
