The Mets’ late-inning relief issues continue to plague them.
Tylor Megill shut out the Los Angeles Dodgers in the first game of a doubleheader on Tuesday afternoon at Citi Field, but once again, the Mets blew a ninth-inning lead and lost 5-2 in 10 innings to the Los Angeles Dodgers in the first game of a doubleheader.
Up 2-0 in the eighth, right-hander Reed Garrett allowed a run. Right-hander Adam Ottavino blew a save in the ninth and Jorge Lopez (0-2) gave up three runs in the 10th.
Mookie Betts singled on the first pitch he saw from Lopez in the top of the 10th, scoring the automatic runner. Ottavino got Ohtani out but then gave up a two-run homer to Freddie Freeman.
The Mets (22-31) were booed off of their home field.
With Edwin Diaz in a deep slump, the Mets are trying to piece together ninth-inning save opportunities with a rotating cast of relievers. So far, they haven’t found an effective reliever. Garrett blew a save Friday against the San Francisco Giants and the Mets decided to go back to Diaz in the closer role on Saturday. Diaz then blew his fourth save and third in a row.
Ottavino allowed back-to-back singles to start the ninth, putting runners on the corners. Chris Taylor dropped a bunt down in front of home plate and Ottavino tried twice to pick it up before finally getting the ball, but not before all of the runners tagged up.
Hernandez scored the tying run for the Dodgers (34-22).
Francisco Lindor gave the Mets a 2-0 lead in the third with a two-run shot off right-hander Tyler Glasnow.
Glasnow (6-4) was tough, but Megill, a Southern California native, was tougher. He blanked the Dodgers, the team with the second-best record in the National League, over seven innings, limiting them to only three hits. Megill struggled with command issues last season and walked five hitters through his first two starts this year. He walked only one Tuesday against Los Angeles, maintained high velocity throughout his outing and attacked hitters.
Shohei Ohtani went 0-for-3 against the big righty.
Tyrone Taylor made a clutch play in the second when he robbed Teoscar Hernandez of a home run. Leading off, Hernandez hit a high fly to dead center. Taylor lept at the wall and caught the ball, but it popped out of his glove. However, it was ruled a ground-rule double. Megill then retired the next three in order, stranding Hernandez at second base.
He struck out nine, one shy of his career-high mark, for the first time since May 4, 2022. Megill struck out the side in the seventh to put an exclamation point on one of his best outings in two years.
But the Mets couldn’t get him the win. It was their sixth loss in seven games.
