The Gorilla: Cy Young Candidate Tylor Megill vs. Braves Game Notes for May 4

It is Megill Day!  The Cy Young Award candidate takes the mound today.

RHP Ian Anderson (2-1, 4.66) vs. RHP Tylor Megill (4-0, 1.93)

LAST TIME OUT: Fired 5.0 no-hit innings, making him one of three Mets pitchers to finish an outing with at least that many hitless frames…Johan Santana threw a no-hitter on June 1, 2012…The only other time a Mets pitcher threw at least 5.0 no-hit innings and did not finish the game was May 15, 1987, when Sid Fernandez exited with a sprained left knee in a start vs. the Giants at Shea Stadium (the team no-hit bid ended the following inning)…Lowered his season ERA to 1.93 (6 ER/28.0 IP).

COMBINED NO-NO: Threw the first 5.0 innings of MLB’s first no-hitter of the season…It was the second no-hitter in team history (also, Johan Santana, June 1, 2012 vs. St. Louis)…This is 17th time a team has thrown a combined no-hitter and the 10th time in the Wild Card Era…Drew Smith (1.1 IP, BB, 4 K), Joely Rodríguez (1.0 IP, 2 BB), Seth Lugo (0.2 IP) and Edwin Díaz (1.0 IP, 3 K) finished the job with 4.0 hitless innings out of the bullpen.

TY-FOUR: Megill has won four of his first five starts and boasts a 1.93 ERA…He is the fifth Mets pitcher in the last 30 years to go 4-0 or better with a sub-2.00 ERA through five starts (courtesy of Sportradar)…The other four: Steven Matz (4-0, 1.80 ERA in 2015), Matt Harvey (4-0, 1.54 in 2013), John Maine (4-0, 1.35 in 2007) and Armando Reynoso (5-0, 1.54 in 1998).

HEATER: Sportradar notes that Megill’s fastball has generated a whiff rate of 30.5 percent this season…That ranks third among qualifying pitchers behind only Corbin Burnes (32.9 percent) and Gerrit Cole (31.8 percent)…Opponents are batting .189 (10-53) in at-bats ending with his fastball.

VS. ATLANTA: Megill made four starts against the Braves during his rookie season, including his major league debut on June 23, 2021 at Citi Field…New York won all four games he started vs. Atlanta…He has not allowed more than five hits nor more than three runs in any of his outings against the club.

WINNING WAYS: New York has won each of Megill’s last five starts…That is now the longest team winning streak in his outings in his career…New York won the first four starts of his career (June 23-July 10, 2021).

100 KLUB: Megill punched out César Hernández looking, his first batter faced, on April 7 at Washington for the 100th strikeout of his career…He is the seventh Mets hurler who began his career with New York to record 100 or more strikeouts in his first 19 career starts with the club…He is the first to accomplish the feat since Steven Matz in 2016.

START WARS: The Mets starting staff has gone 14-4 with a 2.69 ERA (43 earned runs/144.0 innings) with 37 walks and 149 strikeouts this year…The starting staff leads the majors in WHIP (0.94) and opponents average (.190) and is second in the majors in strikeouts and fourth in ERA.

THE FORCE IS STRONG WITH THIS ONE: The Mets have posted an 18-8 record through the team’s first 26 games…Only the 1986 Mets (21-5), 1988 (19-7) and 1972 (19-7) teams posted a better record through the first 26 games of the season…The 1985 Mets is the only other team to go 18-8 in the first 26 games…New York’s pitching staff has struck out 258 this season…That ranks second in team history through 24 games…The 2018 Mets (269) own the record…The team’s 258 strikeouts are second in the major leagues.

LAUGH IT UP, FUZZBALL!: Jeff McNeil has recorded 10 multi-hit games, which is tied for the major league lead…McNeil did not log his 10th multi-hit effort in 2021 until July 26 in his 62nd game…He has recorded 120 multi-hit games since he entered the majors on July 24, 2018…That is 45th on the team’s all-time list…Curtis Granderson is next with 122 multi-hit games.

I’VE GOT A BAD FEELING ABOUT THIS: The Mets have been hit by 22 pitches this year, which leads the majors…Since 2018, the Mets have been hit by 329 pitches, the most in the majors…In his career, Pete Alonso has been plunked 43 times…That is the fourth- highest total in the majors since he entered the league in 2019…Teammate Mark Canha ranks second in that span with 57 HBP, while Starling Marte is fifth (42) in the last four seasons.

Every Mother’s Day the Mets honor and recognize strong women in our community who have helped support the fight against breast cancer…This year the Mets are teaming up with the Susan G. Komen Foundation and MLB for the Share a Moment with Mom campaign…This initiative encourages us to thank, honor and support the moms in our life who have provided us with unwavering love, gentle compassion and guidance…Today’s Mets honoree is Joy Teniozo, who will throw out today’s ceremonial first pitch…Joy is a nurse in the treatment room at Monter Cancer Center in New Hyde Park in the oncology department, where she has worked for more than 30 years…She is not only bright, organized and knowledgeable but extremely caring and compassionate in her care of her patients. She identifies their needs even before they recognize them…Joy went for a normal course mammogram and found out she had a malignant tumor…She was diagnosed with breast cancer and underwent surgery to remove the tumor and has made a full recovery…Throughout her treatment, Joy kept working as a nurse and helping others…Her main goal was to serve her patients without letting her own battle with cancer impede her ability to provide care…She will be joined today by her husband, Ambrioso and sons Ambrose and Mert.