CHICAGO — The Mets had a rough first inning Saturday thanks to Tylor Megill’s worst frame of the season, and the day didn’t get any better in the second.
Starling Marte grounded out in that inning and when the Mets returned to play defense, the 35-year-old outfielder wasn’t among the nine players.
Marte exited with right knee soreness, according to the Mets, putting a potential crimp in a lineup that has executed at a high level for the last week.
Overall, it was an afternoon worth forgetting for the Mets, who lost 8-1 to the Cubs at Wrigley Field.
The Mets lost for a second time in three games, but will still have an opportunity for a fourth straight series victory Sunday.
Marte, according to manager Carlos Mendoza, will remain sidelined for the series finale and then receive evaluation — including an MRI exam — upon returning to New York on Monday.
Mendoza said it’s too early to say if Marte will be placed on the injured list.
“It’s been a few weeks where it has been bothering me,” Marte said through an interpreter. “It’s one of those things where one day it’s better and other days, not so much. It’s something we have been battling with and today it just hurt more than most days.”
The Mets have been cautious with Marte this season, building in off days to protect his legs.
Most recently, that occurred Monday in Texas, with the Mets beginning three games on the turf at Globe Life Field.
Marte wouldn’t rule out the possibility that the two days he played in Texas aggravated his knee, which he said flared up during Friday’s game.
“It’s something to worry about,” Marte said when asked about the possibility he would be placed on the IL. “You want the [test] results to come back negative because then we can get a different plan of action to get me back on the field.”
After missing significant playing time last year, Marte has managed to stay relatively healthy this season, with 66 games played.
Overall, he owns a .278/.328/.416 slash line with seven homers and 30 RBIs and 12 stolen bases.
Megill’s day was a mess.
The right-hander, in his worst outing of the season, allowed six earned runs on five hits and three walks with six strikeouts over three innings.
The performance raised Megill’s ERA to a season-worst 4.81.
It marked a second time in his last three starts he didn’t complete five innings.
“I just need to get better,” Megill said. “The team doesn’t deserve that. The bullpen sure doesn’t deserve that. Overall, I just need to come out firing and finish hitters quick.”
Megill got blitzed in the first inning when the Cubs sent nine batters to the plate and scored five runs.
Megill threw 38 pitches in the inning and was precipitously close to getting yanked before recording the third out, as lefty Danny Young warmed up in the bullpen.
Two of the first three batters Megill faced (Nico Hoerner and Cody Bellinger) walked before Seiya Suzuki delivered an RBI single.
Ian Happ’s RBI ground out brought in the inning’s second run, and with two outs, Megill allowed three straight hits.
Christopher Morel delivered an RBI single that gave the Cubs a 3-0 lead before Dansby Swanson’s double brought in another run.
Former Mets prospect Pete Crow-Armstrong smashed an RBI triple that placed the Mets in a 5-0 hole before Megill retired his former batterymate, Tomas Nido, to conclude the inning.
Megill walked Bellinger in the second, but escaped without any further damage, striking out three batters in the inning.
But Morel homered in the third inning to extend the Cubs’ lead to 6-0.
Megill struck out three in the inning, but was replaced by Young after the Mets batted.
Francisco Alvarez launched his second homer in as many games to pull the Mets within 6-1 against Jameson Taillon in the fifth.
Before this series, Alvarez — who spent seven weeks on the injured list — hadn’t homered since March 30.
Nido smashed an RBI double against Adrian Houser in the sixth that increased the Mets’ deficit to 7-1.
It was the first hit in a Cubs uniform for Nido, who signed with the team Wednesday following his release from the Mets two days earlier.
The Cubs’ eighth run scored on Bellinger’s infield single and Pete Alonso’s throwing error on the play.
“It was one of those days where [Megill] didn’t have it,” Mendoza said. “I thought he used his breaking ball in the second and the third inning, but the damage was done.”