BALTIMORE — Tylor Megill was throwing harder than the Mets had seen from him, but that only meant louder contact Saturday night.
In a nightmare that’s getting longer and scarier, the right-hander’s return from Triple-A Syracuse was hardly inspiring. Megill got knocked out before he could complete the fifth inning and the Mets lost 7-3 to the Orioles at Camden Yards.
The loss was their fifth straight since the trade deadline and pushed them 10 games below .500 to match their worst percentage of the season.
Megill, who is back in the rotation following trades that sent Max Scherzer to the Rangers and Justin Verlander to the Astros, lasted 4 ²/₃ innings and allowed five earned runs on nine hits.
Homers by Gunnar Henderson and Anthony Santander accounted for most of the damage against the right-hander, who had last pitched for the Mets on June 21.
The Orioles celebrated the 40th anniversary of their last World Series-winning team before the game, then proceeded to extend their lead on the Rays in the AL East to three games in front of a juiced sellout crowd.
Megill peaked at 98.8 mph and averaged 95.8 with his four-seam fastball. In his earlier stint with the Mets this season, he was averaging 94.5 mph with that pitch.
But the Orioles were right on him, with 11 balls that left the bat at 97 mph or greater.
Henderson blasted a two-run homer in the first inning that gave the Orioles a 2-0 lead.
The homer left the Mets outscored 79-33 in the first inning this year.
Adley Rutschman singled leading off the game for the Orioles before Henderson hit a full-count changeup for his 422-foot homer.
Ryan O’Hearn’s RBI single in the third buried the Mets in a 3-0 hole. Santander started the rally with a two-out double before O’Hearn delivered.
Jeff McNeil’s two-run home run in the fourth got the Mets back in the game.
It was McNeil’s fourth homer of the season and first since June 11 in Pittsburgh. Brandon Nimmo doubled leading off the inning to give the Mets their first baserunner before McNeil lofted a shot that cleared the right-field fence.
But the Orioles recovered a run in the bottom of the inning on Ramon Urias’ bloop RBI double. Jordan Westburg’s leadoff double fueled the rally.
Santander launched a missile that left his bat at 108 mph in the fifth inning for a solo homer that increased the Mets’ deficit to 5-2. The homer was the 11th allowed by Megill in his 16 major league starts this season.
McNeil’s RBI single pulled the Mets within 5-3 in the sixth. McKenna doubled against Grant Hartwig in the bottom of the inning for the final Baltimore run.
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