It took a while for Tyler Megill’s strong winter to translate into results on the field.
But that dream may finally be coming true for Megill, who pitched another solid game on Sunday, allowing just two runs over five innings in the Mets’ 11-6 win over the Padres.
Aside from a perilous first inning in which Megill found himself in a difficult position after striking out the first two batters, the right-hander rarely posed a threat.
After leaving a runner on third base in the first inning, San Diego was able to put another runner in scoring position for the first time in the fifth inning with consecutive doubles.
Megill noted that it was the third who started the job most effectively.
“I was worrying too much about the little things. [early]”Let’s not just shoot it in there, let’s not be too cutesy, let’s let it hit,” he said. “Then I went in. I really felt like I’d established the bottom half, and the top half. [of the zone]The cutters worked well, the splitters were good…we had a couple of sweepers today.”
It wasn’t as dominating as Megill’s seven scoreless innings against the Dodgers a few weeks ago — manager Carlos Mendoza described Megill as finding a way to hit when he wasn’t at his best — but it worked well on a day when the Mets’ lineup was doing well.
Megill used five pitches, mostly fastballs, but threw just one changeup to strike out Fernando Tatis Jr. in the top of the third inning, a sign he was confident enough to try something different against San Diego’s best hitters.
He also used the splitter, which he added during the offseason, as his out pitch, striking out Jackson Merrill to end the first inning.
“His fastball was lively,” Mendoza said. “He threw a couple of splitters, but I don’t think it was his best. It was in and out. His cutter was shaky, but he found a way to deliver it.”
The season is still early, especially for the Mets, who used up a lot of their margin of error during their horror show in May.
But the season is just beginning for Megill, with Sunday’s appearance being just his sixth start of the season since he injured his shoulder in his first appearance on the mound in March.
In five appearances since his return, Megill has a 3.52 ERA, nearly a career best by one run.
Maybe there was something to that winter training after all.
