For the first two games of the Queens edition of the Subway Series, the Mets stadium operations crew has acted as if it wants to ensure the invading Yankees fans have a good time (and, of course, return).
There have been sing-alongs to “My Girl,” Francisco Lindor’s walk-up song; entreaties for peace between the fan bases while “Why Can’t We Be Friends” plays; extended, elongated sketches involving the “Bronx Giraffe,” who is on the lam, or something; a bit involving a “Yankees fan” deciding the less traditional environment at Citi Field is more fun than Yankee Stadium and thus trading his allegiances.
As Mets marketing execs try to outdo their counterparts, the on-field product has reflected that the home team is doing just about everything better.
The Yankees are playing sloppy baseball, and the Mets already have slugged their way to a Subway Series victory before Sunday’s finale. The Mets thoroughly outplayed the Yankees again in a 12-6 dusting in front of 41,401 on a beautiful Saturday afternoon in which the sun appropriately shined longer on the home team’s dugout.
The Mets (52-38) seem to have brushed off their June swoon and have won four straight behind just enough pitching and an offensive awakening. Brandon Nimmo smacked his second grand slam in four days to get the party going, and Pete Alonso added two more homers — up to 246 for his career, six shy of Darryl Strawberry for the franchise record — to gain more than enough separation.
“I feel like both of these teams are right now like heavyweights at the end of a 15-round match, just trying to throw some haymakers,” said Nimmo, whose first-inning haymaker against Carlos Rodón set the tone. “Both teams are pretty beat up right now.”
The Yankees (48-41) much more so, having dropped six straight in what sure feels like a rock bottom. This free fall often has seen them hurt themselves, which in one case, involving Aaron Judge and Anthony Volpe on Saturday, became literal.
An all-around miserable day for the Yankees included:
- Aaron Boone signaling Clarke Schmidt “likely” will need Tommy John surgery.
- Judge getting bloodied while running in from right field between innings, a throw from Volpe catching No. 99 by surprise. He wore a bandage near his eye afterward.
- Countless misplays, including an airmailed throw to first base from Jazz Chisholm Jr. that led to a run in the second inning, and a booted seventh-inning ball from Trent Grisham, who might have had a chance at throwing out Ronny Mauricio at the plate on a Lindor single. Lindor then, too, came around to score.
The two officially scored errors made the Mets’ path to victory — in a game in which they stitched together nine competent innings from Frankie Montas (four runs in 5 ²/₃ innings), Richard Lovelady, Chris Devenski, Ryne Stanek and Edwin Díaz, Carlos Mendoza asking for a third game in four days from the latter two — surprisingly smooth.
After shots from Chisholm, Austin Wells and Volpe, the Yankees have smacked seven homers in two games and lost both because their pitching and particularly their defense have been regrettable.
“Just got to play better, that’s what it comes down to,” said Judge, who added he was fine after the friendly fire from Volpe. “It’s fundamentals, making the routine plays routine. It’s just the little things. … We’ll clean some things up.”
The statements from the two clubs — one that kept making mistakes and another that took advantage — arrived immediately.
In the bottom of the first, Starling Marte doubled on what probably should have been a single, Jasson Domínguez taking a poor route. After a Lindor walk, Juan Soto laid down the third sacrifice bunt of his career, which prompted Rodón to pitch around Alonso — who took first base on Ball 4 as Wells tried a snap throw to third, a base that Chisholm was not near.
With the bases loaded, Rodón, too, made a mistake in hanging a 1-2 slider in the middle of the plate, Nimmo launching a shot to right for his second grand slam in four days.
Any drama the rest of the way was drained by Yankees miscues.
“We’re playing complete baseball on both sides of the ball,” said Alonso, who added a two-run shot in the fifth and a three-run homer in the seventh against a team that has been playing poorly on one side of the ball.
“It’s been a terrible week,” Boone said. “… Hopefully, as trite as it sounds, as corny [as it sounds], these are the moments that build character within a team and also help find out and define what the heck you need moving forward.”
