After an afternoon of beautiful weather, a Sunday night monsoon meant the New York Mets and New York Yankees would have to settle for a Subway Series split. The third game will be made up on Aug. 13. In the two games which were played, each club did its best in trying to give away the game but ultimately held on in each case. On the positive side, the Yankees will avoid facing Jacob deGrom.
GAME 1
As much as baseball is a grind, there’s also a lot of daily routines. Both the Mets and Yankees clearly had some rust to shake off in this one but buoyed by an early lead, the Mets were able to hang on for a 7-5 victory.
DOUBLE TROUBLE
You don’t need Destiny’s Child to tell you the first inning has been a bugaboo for Domingo German this season. Brandon Nimmo set the table by coaxing a lead-off walk. A one-out double to right by Asdrubal Cabrera, plated Nimmo. With two down, consecutive doubles from Michael Conforto and Jose Bautista made it 3-0.
DARN THAT DH
I’m sure Mets fans were complaining about the designated hitter in the third inning when Yoenis Cespedes ran into an excuse me home run off the foul pole in left. Cespedes, who is dealing with issues on both of his heels, which could require 8-10 months of recovery after surgery, increased the Mets lead to 4-0 on what might’ve been his last home run of 2018.
CESPEDES HOME RUN!!
4-0 Mets!!
Stream Live: https://t.co/fzMsDxvkr8 pic.twitter.com/Iqo9kly01j
— SNY (@SNYtv) July 20, 2018
RALLIES AND MISSED OPPORTUNITIES
The men in pinstripes battled back and the men in orange and blue nearly helped their cause by kicking the ball around in the field. Yet, the Yankees couldn’t quite bust it open.
During the third, with runners at the corners and one out, Giancarlo Stanton lifted a sacrifice fly RBI to right but after an Aaron Hicks single, Gary Sanchez would strand a pair of runners on base.
In the sixth, Neil Walker cut a 6-1 Mets lead in half with a two-run double to left off Seth Lugo.
During the eighth, the Yankees would inch closer against Robert Gsellman. An RBI-double to left by Didi Gregorius would pull New York to within 6-4. However, Stanton could only plate Aaron Judge with a grounder to short and after Hicks was intentionally walked, Sanchez was struck out and ended the threat.
GAME 2
In another wild game, it was almost like the Mets and Yankees reversed roles from the first game but the pinstripes were able to hang on dearly for a 7-6 victory.
SONNY SKIES
Sonny Gray threw a lot of pitches (94) for his 5.1 inning outing. With that said, he kept the Yankees in the game and so you take it and move forward. A home run to Conforto to right in the first inning and running into trouble in the sixth were the main stumbling points for Gray, who also registered six K’s on the afternoon.
HITTING THE DEKK
To say the Yankees went to work on Mets’ centerfielder Matt den Dekker would be an understatement.
The Yankees got on the board in the fourth, on an RBI-triple to right-center by Gregorius, tying the game at one. An RBI-double to right by Miguel Andujar gave the Yankees their first lead of the day at 2-1. Bird, the ensuing batter, who would also single home a run in the sixth, doubled to center, trading places with Andujar. With two-down, an Austin Romine single to center plated Bird.
JUDGEMENT BOMB
Planet Fitness may be a judgment-free zone but such is not the case at Yankee Stadium. Facing Tim Peterson in the seventh, Judge cranked a solo blast to left-center for home run No. 26 on the campaign. The home run gave Judge a 6-for-9 start to the second half. It’s awfully helpful when you don’t injure your shoulder in the home run derby, which appeared to hurt his second-half start last season.
AARON JUDGE ❤️ THE BRONX
There goes his 26th home run & his 18th at Yankee Stadium this season!#YANKSonYES LIVE stream:https://t.co/J4R5bjhf8O pic.twitter.com/nl8uiytONE
— YES Network (@YESNetwork) July 21, 2018
ANYTHING BUT A WALK IN THE PARK
After an RBI-groundout by Romine staked the Yankees to a 7-3 lead in the eighth, Aroldis Chapman endured a meltdown of epic proportions in the ninth. Chapman started the frame by walking Kevin Plawecki. Amed Rosario reached on an infield single to short. Chapman then walked pinch-hitter Ty Kelly on four straight pitches, walked in a run on a four-pitch walk to Jose Reyes and allowed another run on a hit by pitch to Nimmo.
That’s 11 consecutive balls if you’re scoring at home.
With the Yankees ahead 7-5, Chasen Shreve was called upon to close out the game. Shreve was able to retire Devin Mesoraco on a double play, which cut the Yankees advantage to 7-6. In the end, Shreve was able to retired Wilmer Flores on a groundout.
ON DECK
At 63-34, the Yankees travel to St. Petersburg, Fla. for a three-game series against the Tampa Bay Rays starting Monday evening.
Pitching probables, Masahiro Tanaka vs. Hunter Wood, Luis Severino vs. Blake Snell, CC Sabathia vs. Nathan Eovaldi.
