NEW YORK — Shane Baz had lots of reasons to smile after Sunday’s outing in which he used his high-octane fastball and a good mix of his curve, changeup and reworked slider/cutter to hold the Mets to three hits while working into the seventh inning.

Despite this skid, the Mets still sit atop the National League East, owning a 2.5 game lead over the Philadelphia Phillies. As the Mets look to turn things around, they could use increased production from one player in particular.

After Sunday’s miserable 9-0 loss to the Rays marked their first time getting swept all year, the Mets are finally facing something resembling adversity.

Shane Baz se combinó con tres relevistas para permitir solo cinco hits, y los Rays de Tampa Bay blanquearon el domingo 9-0 a Nueva York para completar la primera serie

Takeaways from Sunday's game between the Mets and Rays, a 9-0 loss in which right-hander Griffin Canning regressed and Tampa Bay's pitching blanked New York's offense.

The Rays cobbled together a big inning for the second straight game, scoring five runs in the fourth to beat the Mets again, this time 8-4. Shortstop Taylor Walls had a big role in the win, delivering two doubles and dropping a squeeze bunt in the middle of the fourth-inning outburst.

Following a roughly 50-minute long rain delay, the Mets took the field on a day that felt more like mid-April than mid-June at Citi Field. Things got off to an inauspicious start, as Megill hit the leadoff hitter Josh Lowe on a pitch that bounced in the dirt before connecting with him.

The New York Mets announced a minor transaction on Sunday to get a much-needed fresh arm in their bullpen ahead of the series finale with the Tampa Bay Rays. Th