Mets' Brett Baty hits 2 homers, but Tylor Megill's May struggles lead to loss vs. Cubs

Abbey Mastracco, New York Daily News on May 10, 2025

Published in Baseball

By clicking submit, I authorize Arcamax and its affiliates to: (1) use, sell, and share my information for marketing purposes, including cross-context behavioral advertising, as described in our Privacy Policy , (2) add to information that I provide with other information like interests inferred from web page views, or data lawfully obtained from data brokers, such as past purchase or location data, or publicly available data, (3) contact me or enable others to contact me by email or other means with offers for different types of goods and services, and (4) retain my information while I am engaging with marketing messages that I receive and for a reasonable amount of time thereafter. I understand I can opt out at any time through an email that I receive, or by clicking here

NEW YORK — It’s almost like clockwork. Every April, Tylor Megill is lights-out through the month of April, but once the calendar turns to May, the right-hander turns into a different pitcher.

It wasn’t exactly the worst start for Megill on Saturday night against the Chicago Cubs, but he didn’t exactly look like he did in April in the Mets’ 6-5 loss. Megill gave up four earned runs for the second straight outing, failing to make it through five full innings.

The Mets could have kept him in the game longer since he had only thrown 77 pitches, but Brett Baty had just cut the deficit to one run with a three-run homer in the bottom of the fourth, his first of two home runs on the day. Plus, the Mets had two rested long relievers. They went with right-hander Huascar Brazobán, who got the next five outs to give the Mets a chance to come back in the game.

Twice, Baty brought the Mets back to within one run, drilling a three-run shot off of rookie right-hander Cade Horton in the fourth to cut it to 4-3. Then with a two-run, opposite-field blast in the bottom of the eighth to make it 6-5.

Edwin Diaz blanked the Cubs in the top of the ninth to aid with the comeback effort.

Ultimately, it fell short.

Cubs closer Porter Hodge got a double play after pinch-hitter Jeff McNeil drew a walk to lead off the ninth, and Juan Soto hit a ground ball right to the second baseman. It was a relatively easy save for Hodge (two).

Right-hander Brad Keller worked as the opener for the Cubs and Horton then made his MLB debut in the second inning. The seventh overall draft pick in 2022, the Cubs’ top pitching prospect impressed. He kept the Mets off balance using all four pitches, going four innings and striking out five to earn the win (1-0).

The 23-year-old struck out the first batter he faced, Brandon Nimmo, and retired the side in order in his first big league inning. The Mets put two runners on in the third inning, their first two of the game, when Francisco Alvarez was hit on the wrist with a pitch and Francisco Lindor reached on catcher’s interference. Horton got Soto to roll over on a curveball to strand them both.

Down 4-0 in the bottom of the fourth, Baty hit his second home run in as many nights, taking a 1-1 sweeper over the left-center field fence with two outs.

The Mets (25-15) had chances, putting runners on in the fifth, sixth and seventh innings, but Max Kranick gave up two runs in the top of the eighth and the comeback never materialized.

The NL Central-best Cubs (23-17) scored twice in the first to take an early lead. Megill struggled with his command, putting the first three batters on before getting an out.

Again, Megill got into trouble in the third, giving up a leadoff double to Seiya Suzuki and an RBI single to Michael Busch. Dansby Swanson hit a leadoff homer in the top of the fourth to make it 4-0. Megill went 4 2/3 innings, allowing four earned runs on seven hits, striking out seven and walking two in the loss (3-3).

The series is even, 1-1, and will conclude Sunday afternoon.