The Mets allowed another big inning as they dropped their second in a row to the Rays, 8-4, on Saturday evening at Citi Field.

After the start of the game was delayed for almost an hour, poor pitching and shoddy defense allowed Tampa Bay to score five runs in the fourth inning. In total, the Rays scored four runs on two fielding errors by pitchers, which was the difference in the game.

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The Mets have dropped back-to-back games for the first time since May 18-20.

Here are the takeaways…

-After hitting the first batter he faced, Tylor Megill settled down a bit to pitch until the third inning. Megill allowed a one-out double that was hit just fair by Taylor Walls before Josh Lowe‘s single drove in the game’s first run. After allowing another hit, pitching coach Jeremy Hefner came out to settle his starter down. Megill responded by getting the final two outs of the inning.

Megill would pitch into trouble in the fourth after the Mets gave him back the lead. Junior Caminero led off with a solo shot, but then another HBP and single put runners at the corners with no outs. Megill got a strikeout, but a Walls sacrifice bunt was botched by the big righty, which led to the second run of the inning. This is where things fell apart for Megill and the Mets.

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Brandon Lowe then hit a two-out bloop single to score another run for Tampa. Yandy Diaz tacked on with an RBI single and then Megill threw a wild pitch with the bases loaded to push across another run for the Rays. After Megill walked Caminero to load the bases again, manager Carlos Mendoza had to take out his starter. Jose Castillo came in and Jake Mangum hit a grounder up the middle but Francisco Lindor backhanded it and tossed it to Brett Baty to get the force out at second to end the five-run inning.

Megill’s night was done after throwing 82 pitches (52 strikes) through 3.2 innings, allowing six runs (three earned) on seven hits, two walks and two hit batters. He struck out five batters but his ERA rose to 3.95 on the season.

-Baty has struggled of late (one hit in his previous five games), but the left-hander hit a laser (115.6 mph) off of Drew Rasmussen to tie the game at 1-1 in the third. It was the hardest hit by a Met this season. The Mets would tack on in the same inning when Lindor hit a double, which was followed by a Brandon Nimmo single, all with two outs.

Ronny Mauricio, who was 0-for-his-last-12, tomahawked a Rasmussen fastball up in the zone 374 feet over the right field wall to cut the Rays’ lead to 7-3. A two-out walk to Lindor, a passed ball, and Nimmo single brought the Mets within 7-4 in the fifth.

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-Unfortunately, the Mets bullpen could not hold the Rays from scoring for long. A Walls double scored Matt Thaiss from second — Thaiss reached on a single and advanced on a passed ball in the fifth. Castillo allowed the leadoff hitter in the sixth to reach on his fielding error before Jose Butto allowed an RBI triple to Diaz that Juan Soto tried to grab at the wall but it bounced away from him.

Despite that, the Mets tried to get back in this game by putting traffic on the bases, but just couldn’t get a clutch hit. They had two runners on in the seventh and eighth with two outs but Nimmo and Baty did not come through. The Mets had 11 hits but only had four opportunities with runners in scoring position (2-for-4), with Nimmo coming through with those lone two hits.

–Pete Alonso extended his on-base streak to 22 games with his eighth-inning single. He finished 1-for-4. Soto went 0-for-4 while Starling Marte, who had three hits and drove in three runs on Friday, went 1-for-4.

On a defensive positive, Luis Torrens gunned down two runners and made a great play in tandem with Butto on a wild pitch that got Diaz out at the plate. Torrens did have two passed balls, so it wasn’t all great for the Mets backstop.

Game MVP: Rays bullpen

While the lineup dinked and dunked their way to eight runs, the bullpen held the Mets off the board. They pitched four scoreless innings, allowing just four hits and one walk.

Highlights

What’s next

The Mets and Rays complete their three-game series on Sunday afternoon on PIX11. First pitch is set for 1:40 p.m.

Griffin Canning (6-2, 3.22 ERA) will be on the mound as Tampa will send Shane Baz (5-3, 4.97 ERA) on the bump.