Tylor Megill, making his major-league debut, leads patchwork group of Mets to win over Braves

NEW YORK — A duo of Triple-A pitchers, one rookie and one familiar longman reliever, were the latest to step up and help carry the Mets to a series split against Atlanta. The Mets offense, a unit that finally broke out for seven runs and 13 hits, did the rest of the heavy lifting.

Tylor Megill – in his major-league debut – pitched 4.1 innings in the Mets’ 7-3 win over the Braves on Wednesday night at Citi Field. Megill, the Mets’ 21st-ranked prospect, brought a shutout into the fifth inning before Ender Inciarte tagged him for a two-run home run. But the right-hander showed grit and moxie, particularly after he collected strikeouts against Dansby Swanson and Ozzie Albies, in an encouraging outing during a time when the Mets rotation is looking to catch lightning in a bottle from any pitcher willing to step up.

Corey Oswalt, called up on Wednesday to sustain a depleted bullpen, was the other successful innings eater. Oswalt has shuffled from the minors to the majors since 2018 with mixed results for the Mets. On Wednesday in his season debut, he hurled 2.1 innings and recorded seven big outs, surrendering just one run across a solid relief appearance.

To understand the state of the Amazin’s relief corps, look no further than Oswalt relieving Miguel Castro in the sixth inning with a three-run lead. Jeurys Familia and Robert Gsellman are on the injured list and Trevor May, Aaron Loup and Drew Smith all pitched in Tuesday’s loss. Seth Lugo, though, was nowhere to be found.

Which is why after Oswalt came, surprisingly, Edwin Diaz for a five-out relief appearance. Diaz easily recorded the first two outs in the eighth inning, striking out Pablo Sandoval using a filthy 100-mph fastball. The Mets tacked on another run in the bottom of the frame to give the team a four-run lead and take away Diaz’s save opportunity, but the Mets had no one else to go to in the bullpen.

So there was Diaz again in the ninth inning of a non-save situation to slam the door on the Braves. He retired the side to successfully complete his five-out assignment and lowered his ERA to 2.73 on the season.

The Mets (38-31) can enjoy a necessary off-day – their final before the All-Star break – to rest their taxed arms. The offense, on the other hand, could go without the respite because the Mets lineup had just started to look like itself again.

Michael Conforto returned from the IL and ripped a first-inning double to right field in his first at-bat since May 16. Francisco Lindor launched a two-run home run, his ninth of the year, and Jeff McNeil went 3-for-5 with an RBI. After getting shutout in four of their last eight games and not scoring a run in 17 consecutive innings, the Mets offensive outbreak was a welcome display.