NEW YORK METS NOTES:
METSCELLANEOUS: The Mets fell to the Braves, 13-10, in extra-innings last night…The Mets were swept for the fourth time this season…The Mets continue their six-game road trip (0-3) to Atlanta (0-3) and Pittsburgh (three games)…Following this series, the Mets are off on Monday before the start of a six-day, fivegame homestand against the Yankees (two games) and Cardinals (three games).
LET’S NOT GO STREAKING: New York has lost six straight games, which is the longest stretch of the season…The last time the Mets lost six in a row was from August 23-29, 2019…The last time the team had a longer losing streak was when they dropped a season-high seven straight in 2019, from June 23-29.
THEM’S THE PITTS: Tylor Megill will make his third career start against the Pirates…He has posted a 0.93 ERA (1 ER/9.2 IP) with three walks and nine strikeouts in his previous two starts…He has made one start at PNC Park…On July 17, he hurled 6.0 scoreless innings and allowed seven hits, struck out two and did not walk a batter…Overall, Megill is 5-3 with a 4.40 ERA (29 ER/59.1 IP) with 32 walks and 48 strikeouts in 12 starts in 2023.
TAKE IT TO THE BANK: The Mets play at PNC Park for the first time this year…New York went 2-1 at the yard in 2022…Eduardo Escobar has hit .488 (21-43) with 10 runs, five doubles, one triple, two home runs, 10 RBI and three walks in 12 career games a the ballpark…He has safely hit in nine of his 12 games in Pittsburgh…Omar Narvaez has hit .356 (26-73) with 14 runs, four doubles, three home runs, 14 RBI with 11 walks and a .440 OBP in 23 games in Pittsburgh.
A STARLING IS BORN: Over his last 28 games, Starling Marte is batting .299 (29-97) with 14 runs, one double, one triple, two home runs, 10 RBI, three walks with a .340 OBP…He has safely reached base in nine of his last 11 games…He has safely hit in five of his last six games…Marte has played 477 career games at the ballpark and is a .290/.348/.445 career hitter with 46 home runs and 204 RBI.
AW SNAP: Yesterday, the Mets lost their first game when leading after 8.0 innings…They had been 27-0 when leading after eight innings this season…Prior to last night, the last time the Mets lost a game when they were ahead after eight innings was on September 6, 2021 at Washington…The Mets were up 3-2 and lost 4-3 in the bottom of the ninth…The Mets won 122 straight games when ahead after eight…It was the longest streak in franchise history, surpassing the previous high of 117 consecutive games.
AIN’T IT GRAND?: Brandon Nimmo recorded his first grand slam of his career last night…He collected four RBI in the game, which matched his career-high…It was the third time in his career that he recorded four RBI in a game…He is batting .333 (47-141) with 21 runs, eight doubles, three triples, three home runs, 21 RBI, 20 walks with a .416 OBP and .496 SLG in 36 games on the road this season…His .333 road average ranks fifth in the majors…Nimmo owns a career .398 OBP on the road…That is the fourth-highest mark in the majors since the Wyoming native entered the league in 2016.
ON THE ROAD AGAIN: New York has played 36 games on the road this year, the most in the majors…New York is 15-21 with a 5.15 ERA away from Citi Field in 2023…The team’s 300 strikeouts on the road are the third-most in the majors.
BASEBALL IS THE BEST: Francisco Alvarez recorded his second multi-homer game of the season and his career last night… He became the fourth player in franchise history to record two or multi-home run games before the age of 22…He joins Darryl Strawberry (6), Ed Kranepool (3) and José Reyes (2)… According to Sarah Langs, at 21 years & 201 days old, Francisco Alvarez is the second-youngest player in Mets history with three home runs in a two-game span…He is older than only Darryl Strawberry (21-108 in 1983 as the second game of the span).
THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS: Alvarez as hit 11 home runs this season…That puts him tied for the second-most by a rookie in the majors and tied for the most in the National League…Only two rookie catchers in Mets history have had more homers in a season…Travis d’Arnaud (13) holds the club mark for home runs by a rookie catcher in 2014…Jason Phillips hit 11 as a rookie in 2003… Alvarez’s 12 career homers (one last year) before turning 22 years old are the most by a catcher since Iván Rodríguez had 21 from 1991-1993.
PHAM-TASTIC: Over his last 13 games, Tommy Pham is batting .344 (11-32) with five runs, three doubles, one triple, three home runs, 11 RBI, five walks with a .421 OBP, a .781 SLG and a 1.202 OPS.
COME AT THE KING, BEST NOT MISS: Omar Narváez has reached base safely in all seven games this season, batting .286 (6-21) with three runs, two RBI and two walks.
D-FENCE: The Mets have committed 23 errors in 63 games this year, tied for the second-fewest errors in the majors…New York owns a .990 fielding percentage…Their .990 fielding percentage, third in the major leagues.
FIRST IS THE WORST: The Mets have been outscored 49-14 in the first inning this year.
IF YOU START ME OFF: New York is 16-1 when their starter goes at least 6.0 innings…The Mets are still 6-0 when the starter goes at least 7.0 innings.
STEAL THIS BASE: The Mets are second in the major leagues with an 88.0% stolen base success rate this season…Starling Marte has swiped 17 bags this year, tied for sixth in the majors and tied for third in the National League…His 331 career stolen bases rank second among active players…Elvis Andrus is the active leader with 340 steals…Pete Alonso has stolen 12 bases in 13 tries in his career.
RISPY BUSINESS: The Mets are hitting .238 (114-479) with runners in scoring position, ranking 12th in the NL and 23rd in the majors this year…Last season, New York batted .269 (371-1,378), good for third in the NL and fourth in the majors.
STRATING PITCHER – TYLOR MEGILL RHP #38
2023 STATS: 5-3, 4.40 ERA
MEGILL’S PITCH ARSENAL
Pitch Type Usage Rate vs. LHB vs. RHB Avg. Velocity
Four-Seam Fastball 53% 58% 48% 94.4 mph
Slider 21% 10% 31% 83.4 mph
Changeup 18% 20% 16% 88.5 mph
Curveball 8% 12% 5% 76.9 mph
LAST TIME OUT: Pitched 5.1 innings in the Mets’ 2-1 defeat by the Toronto Blue Jays on June 3…Allowed one run on five hits, with a career-high five walks and five strikeouts…Did not factor into the decision.
A PIRATE’S LIFE FOR ME: Today, Megill will make his third career start against the Pirates…Made his first career start against Pittsburgh in the second game of a doubleheader at Citi Field on July 7, 2021…Allowed one run over 3.1 innings in the Mets victory…Made his second start against Pittsburgh on the road a week later (July 17, 2021)…Threw 6.0 scoreless innings in the Mets loss.
BIG DRIP VS NL CENTRAL: This season, Megill has faced one NL Central opponent…Pitched 3.2 innings against the Chicago Cubs on May 23 and allowed six runs on six hits….Over his career, Megill has a 6.46 ERA (22 ER/30.2 IP) over nine appearances (seven starts) against the NL Central, his highest mark against any division.
ON THE ROAD AGAIN: This season, Megill is 2-2 with a 6.08 ERA (18 ER/26.2 IP) in six road starts this season…In six home starts this season, Megill is 3-1 with a 3.03 ERA (11 ER/32.2 IP)…In 23 career road games (19 starts), Megill is 6-7 with a 5.23 ERA (54 ER/93.0 IP) and in 22 career home games (20 starts), Megill is 7-4 with a 4.09 ERA (47 ER/103.1 IP).
THE FRANCHISE HAS COMPANY: On April 7, the Mets home opener vs. Miami, Megill threw 6.0 scoreless innings and allowed three hits…Megill joined Tom Seaver (April 5, 1983) as the only other pitcher in franchise history to throw 6.0 shutout innings and allow three hits or fewer in a home opener.
PITTSBURGH PIRATES NOTES:
THE PIRATES: Have lost back-to-back games following their six-game winning streak from 5/30 to 6/5…Have had four separate winning streaks of at least four games this season, including a season-high seven-game winning streak from 4/17-23, their longest winning streak since 2018 (11 games)…Are 1.0 game behind the first place Brewers in the National League Central coming into today.
FROM 1 TO 1998: Andrew McCutchen comes into today just two hits shy of 2000 in his career (his first career hit came in his big league debut against Mike Pelfrey of the Mets on June 4, 2009)…McCutchen has recorded 1513 of his 1998 hits with the Pirates organization…McCutchen’s 1513 hits with Pittsburgh ranks 12th in team history…Hall-of-Famer Roberto Clemente is first with 3000 while Tommy Leach is 11th (1603).
A WALK IN THE PARK: Andrew McCutchen walked seven times in Pittsburgh’s last series against the A’s…Prior to McCutchen, Pedro Alvarez was the last Pirate to draw seven free passes in a three-game series when he did so from May 1-3, 2015, against St. Louis… McCutchen leads all of MLB with eight walks this month while his 15.5 percent walk rate ranks 10th in all of MLB.
ROSTER MOVE: Prior to tonight’s game the Pirates recalled outfielder Canaan SmithNjigba from Triple-A Indianapolis…Chase De Jong was designated for assignment to make room for Smith-Njigba on the 26-man active roster…This is Smith-Njigba’s second stint with the Pirates this season after making the team’s Opening Day roster before being optioned to Triple-A on April 26.
RICH ON THE HILL: Rich Hill gets the start tonight in the opener of this weekend series against the Mets…Hill allowed one run in a season-high 6.2 innings while helping the Pirates complete a three-game sweep of St. Louis in his last start Sunday afternoon… Hill has thrown his curveball 39.7 percent of the time this season according to Baseball Savant, which ranks fourth in all of MLB behind Drew Smyly (50.6%), Charlie Morton (46.4%) and Domingo German (41.2%).
THE BRIDGE TO BEDNAR: Colin Holderman has been scored upon in just three of his 24 appearances this season with the Pirates…He has also recorded 20 strikeouts in the eighth inning this year, which are the third-most in the National League behind Colorado’s Justin Lawrence (25) and Milwaukee’s Peter Strzelecki (22)…The 27-year-old Holderman ranks 36th among 192 qualified relievers in MLB with a 6.1 percent walk rate according to FanGraphs and 21st among 192 qualified relievers with an xFIP of 2.96.
CATCH THIS: On Tuesday the Pirates promoted 2021 No. 1 overall pick Henry Davis to Indianapolis, joining Endy Rodriguez, who began the season in Triple-A…Pittsburgh’s minor league system entered the 2023 campaign with two of MLB Pipeline’s top 100 prospects behind the plate…Endy Rodriguez was rated 55th among Pipeline’s top 100 prospects while Henry Davis was No. 57…The Pirates and Mets were one of two organizations with two catchers rated among Pipeline’s top seven prospects at that position.
THE HOT CORNER: Ke’Bryan Hayes has hit safely in each of his last seven games, going 14-for-29 with a double, two triples, two home runs and seven RBI (it’s his second seven-game hitting streak of the season)…Hayes ranks 18th in MLB in average exit velocity (92.7 miles per hour)…Hayes also ranks fifth among all National League third basemen in extra base hits (22).
LEGGING IT OUT: Ke’Bryan Hayes recorded his MLB-leading fifth triple of the season on Wednesday…Since the beginning of last year, Hayes’ eight triples are tied for the second-most in the National League along with Charlie Blackmon, JT Realmuto and TJ Friedl…New York’s Brandon Nimmo leads the way in that time with 11 triples…As a team, the Pirates are leading all of MLB with 15 triples this season.
RUDY ROLLING: Rodolfo Castro doubled and homered Wednesday and is now hitting .370 (10-for-27) in his last eight games…Castro has recorded a .712 slugging percentage against left-handed pitchers, which ranks fifth in all of MLB.
STARTING PITCHER – 44 – LHP RICH HILL
YEAR W-L ERA G GS CG SHO IP H R ER BB SO
2023 5-5 4.41 12 12 0 0 65.1 69 36 32 21 61
RICH HILL: The 43-year-old lefthander is making his 13th start of the season tonight…Allowed one run in a season-high 6.2 innings while winning a 2-1 decision in his last start Sunday vs. St. Louis.
vs. NEW YORK (NL): 2-2 with a 6.69 ERA (35.0ip/26er) in nine career appearances (seven starts)…Hasn’t faced the Mets since allowing two runs in 6.0 innings in a no-decision on 5/28/19 as a member of the Dodgers.
