Mets blow late lead to Rangers, waste Tylor Megill's strong start
Ezequiel Duran #20 of the Texas Rangers beats the throw to Omar Narvaez #2 of the Mets for the go ahead run during the ninth inning at Citi Field on Monday, Aug. 28, 2023. Credit: Jim McIsaac
In the Mets’ 4-3 loss Monday night, the Rangers got Gott.
Trevor Gott, a well-traveled righthanded reliever and the closer for the day, allowed a go-ahead two-run single by Nathaniel Lowe with two outs in the top of the ninth inning, the key moment in a game the Mets had controlled since the early innings.
Managing a patchwork bullpen, Buck Showalter was without Adam Ottavino, who had pitched the previous two days. He already had used Brooks Raley in the eighth. Hence the presence of Gott, who recorded a save in St. Louis this month.
“I thought we were going to get out of it,” said Gott, who allowed the first two batters of the inning to reach before striking out the next two. “[Lowe] did what he gets paid to do.”
It was the first time Texas (74-57) won a game in which it trailed after eight innings.
Also under the category of pseudo-tryouts for the 2024 bullpen, Sean Reid-Foley (scoreless inning, touched 98 mph) and Sam Coonrod (retired two of three batters) passed tests in late-and-close appearances.
“Both of them have really good arms. They’ve shown they can pitch well up here if they can stay on the field,” Showalter said. “The challenge for them is to get people out, obviously, but to get out of this year healthy and feeling good that their arm and their body is going to hold up next year.”
Brandon Nimmo’s two-run homer in the third and DJ Stewart’s solo shot in the sixth accounted for the scoring for the Mets (60-72). Both blasts came against righthander Jon Gray, who allowed only two other hits in six innings.
Gott’s blown save wasted Tylor Megill’s best start since at least June and maybe since April. Megill held Texas — which boasts the third-highest-scoring offense in the majors — to one run and five hits in six innings, striking out eight and walking one.
Nimmo called Megill “a treat to watch.” Showalter said, “A really good-hitting team, so that’s impressive. That was really good to see from Tylor.”
Tim Healey is the Mets beat writer for Newsday. Born on Long Island and raised in Connecticut, Tim has previously worked for the South Florida Sun Sentinel, the Boston Globe and MLB.com. He is also the author of “Hometown Hardball,” a book about minor league baseball in the northeast.
