Mets' Tylor Megill looks to shut down potent Cubs offense

The team with the best earned-run average in the National League will face the highest-scoring MLB team again when the New York Mets and visiting Chicago Cubs meet Saturday in the second game of their three-game series.

The Mets won the opener Friday on the strength of four home runs and six innings of one-run pitching by Clay Holmes in the 7-2 game. The Mets lowered their team ERA to 2.82.

New York will send Tylor Megill (3-2, 2.50 ERA) to the mound Saturday. The right-hander has 45 strikeouts in his seven starts and has only allowed two home runs.

He hasn't had much luck against the Cubs in his career. In two starts, he is 0-2 with a 13.50 ERA, giving up 12 runs (10 earned) in 6 2/3 innings.

"He's a pro, he understands. He wants to be a big league pitcher," said Mets manager Carlos Mendoza on Megill, who bounced from the majors to the minors most of the first half of last season. "He's got really good stuff. He should be a guy in this league. We are really counting on him. He needs to stay on the attack, keep getting ahead of hitters and limit damage."

Limiting damage will be key Saturday as he takes on a Cubs team that has been doing serious damage all season.

Chicago leads the majors with 225 runs and 349 hits and sits third in home runs with 57. Chicago even is tied for the most MLB stolen bases with 48.

Kyle Tucker is doing what the Cubs expected of him when they acquired him in a trade with the Houston Astros in the offseason. He leads the team in batting average (.283), home runs (10), RBIs (32) and OBPs (.392). Tucker also has 10 stolen bases and has struck out only 22 times.

The outfield is stellar for Chicago. Seiya Suzuki has nine home runs and 31 RBIs. Pete Crow-Armstrong has added nine home runs, 27 RBIs and 12 stolen bases.

Even journeyman catcher Carson Kelly has joined the act with eight home runs and 23 RBIs. He never has had more than 18 home runs and 47 RBIs in a season, achieved in 2019 with the Arizona Diamondbacks.

The Cubs, who are missing key starters Justin Steele and Shota Imanaga, are expected to start veteran Brad Keller (0-0, 3.78 ERA). Keller has never faced the Mets.

Used as a reliever this season - he's thrown just 16 2/3 innings over 15 innings - he could be an opener and give way to top prospect Cade Horton, who would be making his major league debut.

At Triple-A Iowa, the right-hander had a 2-1 record, 1.24 ERA and 33 strikeouts in 29 innings.

"It's been crazy, but I think it's a testament to all the hard work I put in this offseason and the strides I've made," Horton said Friday. "Just maturing and really knowing it's my time."

Keller, and those who follow him to the mound, will be asked to contain a Mets offense led by big free agent acquisition Juan Soto and Pete Alonso.

Soto has eight home runs and 19 RBIs, including a pair of two home run games this month and a solo home run Friday.

Alonso has benefited the most from Soto being in the lineup with nine home runs, 34 RBIs and a .324 average.

Francisco Lindor has eight home runs and 25 RBIs.

--Field Level Media