Mets 3 Yankees 2 (Yankee Stadium, Bronx, NY)
Mets record: 52-48
Mets streak: Won 2
WP - Jose Quintana (5-6)
LP - Michael Tonkin (3-4)
SV - Jake Diekman (4)
Seat On The Korner:
We select the star of the game and virtually invite him to a Seat on the Korner, just as Ralph Kiner used to do for his studio postgame show on WOR-channel 9 broadcasts in the early decades of the Mets.
Today's Seat On The Korner goes to Jake Diekman, who strategically shut the door on the Yankees in the 9th inning to hold on to a 1-run victory. With usual closer Edwin Diaz unavailable due to his workload in Miami, the Mets had to go in a different direction. Manager Carlos Mendoza may have been the only person who trusted Diekman in that moment. Of course, he was the only one who needed to. Never mind Diekman's 5.28 ERA. Never mind Diekman's penchant for putting runners on base (a 1.448 WHIP). Never mind that he was facing the top and essentially only potent part of the Yankees lineup. The veteran southpaw got leadoff batter Trent Grisham to fly out to the warning track in left center, then pitched around left-handed batter Juan Soto on 4 pitches to face the mighty righty Aaron Judge, who had already been walked 4 times in the game. It seemed safe to assume that the Mets would pitch around Judge yet again. Instead, Diekman started off with a 95-MPH fastball pretty much down the heart of the plate, catching just about everyone off guard. Four pitches later, Diekman caught Judge looking at a 96-MPH fastball on the inside corner. Ben Rice was next and after a pretty tense at-bat for the rookie, he grounded out to second baseman Jeff McNeil to end the game.
Need To Know:
The Mets didn't make it back to New York from Miami until just after 5am this morning. The Marlins chose for Monday's game to start in the evening, which already meant that the Mets would arrive home late. Additional issues with getting gas to the plane caused further delays, frustration, and exhaustion.
The Mets are now 5 games into a 13-game stretch to open up the second half of the season. They are 3-2 in those games. Their first off day since the All-Star break will be on Thursday, August 1st.
The Mets are now 4 games above .500, matching their season high. On Wednesday night they'll try to go 5 games above .500 for the first time since April 23, 2023.
With the win tonight, the Mets are now 64-80 against the Yankees in interleague play, and 113-150-2 against them in combined regular season, World Series, Spring Training, 2020 Summer Camp, Mayor's Trophy Games, Mayor's Challenge Games, and the Big Apple Series.
In 52 career games against the Yankees, Francisco Lindor is batting .316 with 18 doubles, 23 RBIs, 45 runs scored, and 10 home runs.
It was Lindor's 5th-inning bases loaded HBP that tied the game at 1-1.
Turning Point
On a night full of role reversals, Jeff McNeil continued his power-hitter evolution with a 2-run home run off former Mets reliever (briefly) Michael Tonkin, to put the Mets ahead 3-1.
McNeil has now hit four home runs in his last five games, and in his last eight games, he's batting .346 with 12 RBI, and two doubles.
Three Keys:
Purposely Wild
The Yankees well-known hitting woes led to a deliberate, and remarkably obvious approach by the Mets pitchers. Starter Jose Quintana focused on getting leadoff man Jahmai Jones and second batter Juan Soto out so he could walk Aaron Judge without putting anyone in scoring position. This proved effective as both Jones and Soto went 0-3 against Quintana, while Judge walked all 3 times they faced each other. Yankees cleanup hitter JD Davis was unsuccessful batting behind Judge, as he also went 0-3, with 2 Ks and a double-play. While he pitched in and out of trouble throughout his night, the only run Quintana allowed was a solo home run by Gleyber Torres in the second inning. As often happens with Quintana, a high pitch count forced him out of the game after 5 innings forcing him to...
Trust the Bullpen
Five Mets relievers pitched the final four innings, holding the Yankees to one run. Adam Ottavino started the 6th inning and allowed a leadoff single to Anthony Volpe. A Gleyber Torres ground out moved Volpe to second, and an Alex Verdugo double to center drove him home, and Ottavino to the showers. Newly-acquired lefty reliever Alex Wood came in for his Mets debut and first major league appearance since June 1st. Wood fell behind pinch-hitter Austin Wells before getting him to fly out to Tyrone Taylor in right, moving Verdugo to third. DJ LeMahieu then grounded out to second to end the thread. Dedniel Nunez pitched the 7th inning and pitched around some trouble of his own making. Trent Grisham led off the inning, pinch hitting for Jahmai Jones, and hit a hard smash to first. Pete Alonso made a great stop but less-than-great toss to first. Still the ball was catchable and Nunez just couldn't hang on. A wild pitch moved Grisham to second with no outs, but Nunez came roaring back with an impressive strikeout of Juan Soto. After intentionally walking Aaron Judge, Nunez got Ben Rice (pinch-hitting for JD Davis) to fly out to deep center. He then induced a Volpe groundout to third to end the inning.
Phil Maton then followed with an effective 8th inning appearance with a strikeout, a ground out, and a walk, before LeMahieu's fielder's choice ended it.
This was followed by the above-mentioned appearance by Jake Diekman to seal the 3-2 win. In four innings, the Mets bullpen gave up just 2 hits (both by Ottavino), 1 run (also Ottavino), and 3 walks, while striking out 3.
Missed Opportunities
It wasn't all positive for the Mets tonight. Their offensive inconsistencies continued. They were able to grind out 8 hits, 4 for extra bases, but only scored three runs, two of which came in on a 2-run home run, and the other on a bases loaded HBP. In the top of the 5th, the first three Mets hitters reached base, but they were only able to score once, when Luis Gil's 2-1 fastball caught Lindor on the arm. Gil looked like he was losing steam, and the Mets were unable to take advantage.
The Mets had a similar opportunity in the top of the 8th, as they were able to laod the bases with one out on reliever Luke Weaver. The pitcher was able to turn it around though, as he got Luis Torrens and then Tyrone Taylor to strike out before any runs crossed home plate, once again leaving 'em loaded.
In all, the Mets left 8 runners on base.
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