New York Yankees 5 – New York Mets 0
On the power of a pair of home runs, the Yankees even up the Subway Series.
In the first inning, Jacoby Ellsbury hit a bloop single and Brett Gardner liked that single so much he hit it nearly in the same spot to put the first two batters on base against Noah Syndergaard. Former Met Carlos Beltran made his impact felt on his former team when he hit the three-run home run that put the Yankees ahead early.
Syndergaard settled down after the first three batters but Michael Pineda barely hit a bump in the road.
After a perfect first inning, Pineda surrendered a soft bloop single to Lucas Duda but he got a pair of outs to keep the Mets from rallying. He gave up a leadoff single in the fourth inning but with one out, Pineda struck out Lucas Duda while Brian McCann unleashed the cannon, throwing David Wright out at second to end the inning.
After the three-run home run, Noah Syndergaard retired 12 in a row. He gave up a deep fly ball to center field by Dustin Ackley over Yoenis Cespedes for a leadoff triple. Unfortunately for the Yankees, National League lineups feature the pitcher near the bottom of the order. Didi Gregorius and Michael Pineda struck out and a ground out by Jacoby Ellsbury wasted the triple.
In the sixth inning, Carlos Beltran got a one-out single and Brian McCann brought him home with a two-run home run into right center field, extending the Yankees lead to five.
In the bottom half of the sixth, former Yankees Kelly Johnson and Curtis Granderson reached with singles. Michael Pineda got aggressive with Cespedes and struck him out on three pitches. Justin Wilson came on in relief and walked Daniel Murphy to load the bases.
He bounced back with a strikeout of David Wright and pinch-hitter Juan Uribe kept the bases loaded and the five-run lead intact.
In 5 1/3 scoreless innings, Michael Pineda allowed four hits and one walk while striking out four.
The two strikeouts by Wilson started an impressive streak by the Yankees strong bullpen. In the seventh inning, Justin Wilson struck out two before Caleb Cotham got the call and he struck out the batter he faced.
For the eighth inning, Dellin Betances came in and struck out the first two batters he faced before a ground out by Yoenis Cespedes snapped a streak of seven consecutive batters to strikeout by the relievers.
In the ninth inning, James Pazos got one out, cue the bullpen. Chris Martin came in and struck out David Wright looking. He gave up a pair of infield singles and…cue the bullpen. In the dwindling days of September, must-win games call upon the closer, despite the five-run lead.
Andrew Miller entered the game and on three pitches, got a ground out to end the game and complete the shutout of the Mets.
Win – Michael Pineda (11-8)
Loss – Noah Syndergaard (8-7)
Notables
Yankees
*Carlos Beltran – 2 for 4, 2 R, Three-run home run (16) in the 1st, 3 RBI (56)
*Brian McCann – 1 for 3, R, BB, Two-run home run (26) in the 6th, 2 RBI (69)
Mets
*Daniel Murphy -1 for 3, BB
*Curtis Granderson – 1 for 3, BB
Current Yankees Record: 81-66
