The Mets bullpen falls short in NLDS Game 2 loss

PHILADELPHIA – With the second game of a division series hanging in the balance, coach Carlos Mendoza believed Tylor Megill was his best option.

Phil Maton threw 25 pitches on Saturday.

Ryne Stanek had thrown 28, Reed Garrett 23 and David Peterson 50.

Edwin Diaz was already starting (and forced out), Mendoza unleashed his best arm with the decisive run at second, and Kyle Schwarber was at the plate in the seventh when Diaz struck him out.

Jose Butto, who was not sharp, had preceded Diaz.

The only other bullpen arms not mentioned are Adam Ottavino and left-hander Danny Young.

So it was Megill who most recently started the Mets' wild-card title win on Monday in Atlanta and gave up the game-winning single to Nick Castellanos in a wild 7-6 loss to the Phillies at Citizens Bank Park on Sunday in the NLDS at one game per Piece.

“I was short back there (in the bullpen) today,” Mendoza admitted after Diaz and Megill allowed four runs in the final two innings. “You try to stay away from different people because you're going to need them all. It's not just the high-leverage relievers that will be in the game, and I'll be asking them to get big outs. Everyone will have to do their part.”

Megill, left off the wild-card roster because he had only recently started, made a postseason debut he doesn't want to remember.

He came into the game in the eighth inning after Diaz gave up the go-ahead two-run triple to Bryson Stott and got the job done.

He induced a soft ground ball from JT Realmuto that should have been an out at home, but third baseman Mark Vientos blocked it, allowing Stott to score and reach Realmuto.

Megill then knocked down Brandon Marsh and caused Alec Bohm to foul.

After Vientos hit the game-winning home run in the bottom of the ninth, Megill returned to the mound in a game that could have lasted longer: There is no ghost runner in the postseason.

Considering the other options, Mendoza stuck with a full-on right-hander, even though Megill — who finished the season strong and was in the starting lineup — wasn't a backup this year.

“No challenge. Same old man — just coming out in a different role,” said Megill, who spent much of his day pacing the bullpen. “At the end of the day, all I have to do is make pitches. I accidentally lost one and that cost us the game.”

That “one” was a slider that delivered too much of the plate to Castellanos, who yanked it left to elicit a deafening celebration.

But Megill certainly regrets a two-out walk against Trea Turner before fighting for seven pitches with Bryce Harper, who also walked, paving the way for Castellanos.

“He was careful with Turner, he can get you deep too,” Mendoza said. “And then of course you have to play around Harper, and we just left that slider – I think it was too good a pitch for Castellanos, and that's another good hitter that made him pay.”

This is the type of scenario in which the Mets pay for a sprint to the postseason in which nearly every bullpen arm has been stressed.