Mets pummel Yankees, take both games of Subway Series
Brandon Nimmo #9 of the Mets beats the throw to Jose Trevino #39 of the Yankees for a run during the fifth inning at Citi Field on Wednesday, June 26, 2024. Credit: Jim McIsaac
The Yankees are 22 games over .500.
The Mets are at .500.
Which team is feeling good about itself today?
Hint: Not the Yankees.
The rampaging Mets bludgeoned the Yankees on Wednesday night, 12-2, to sweep the two-game Queens portion of the Subway Series before a sellout crowd of 43,004 at Citi Field.
The game was delayed for 1:27 in the bottom of the fifth by heavy rain, wind, thunder and lightning with the Mets leading 4-0.
The game was already official, but the Mets didn’t mind playing on. They scored three more runs immediately after the delay and three more in the next inning on Tyrone Taylor’s three-run homer.
Francisco Alvarez (3-for-3, walk) had a two-run homer and drove in three. In his last eight games, Alvarez is 15-for-27 (.556) with seven walks, three homers and nine RBIs.
Harrison Bader also homered for the Mets (39-39), who have won 15 of their last 19 and reached .500 for the first time since they were 18-18 on May 7.
“To be able to get to .500 is huge for us,” said Sean Manaea, who threw five shutout innings before the delay for the victory. “Just have to keep it going.”
Said Mets manager Carlos Mendoza: “Understanding we’ve got a ways to go, but it’s exciting now and we feel good with where we’re at right now as a team.”
The Yankees (52-30) can’t say the same. They have lost eight of 10 games and each of their last four series.
“It sucks,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. “You don’t like getting your teeth kicked in. It’s been a crappy two weeks for us. But it’s part of it.”
Aaron Judge hit his MLB-best 30th home run, a two-run shot in the sixth inning with the Yankees trailing 7-0.
It’s the third time Judge has hit at least 30 home runs before the All-Star break (also 2017 and 2022). He has seven home runs in his last eight games vs. the Mets. With his 287th career homer, Judge tied Bernie Williams for seventh on the Yankees’ all-time list.
Boone pinch hit Trent Grisham for Judge in the eighth with the Yankees down 11-2. Judge did not appear to be happy about it on the bench.
“I’m not the manager, so I don’t make those rules,” Judge said. “I want every at-bat. The game’s never over. I want every at-bat. But I’m not the manager. He makes the call. I wasn’t upset at all.”
The Mets took a 3-0 lead in the third against Luis Gil. Francisco Lindor led off with his second double of the night. Brandon Nimmo walked and J.D. Martinez lofted a run-scoring single to right for his 16th RBI in his last 13 games.
Pete Alonso grounded in a 6-4-3 double play to bring up Alvarez, whom Gil had walked on four off-speed pitches to load the bases in the first.
Pitch around Alvarez again with Taylor on deck? Nope. After a swinging strike, Alvarez rocketed a high 98-mile per hour fastball 105-mph and 381 feet over the fence in right-center for a two-run homer and 3-0 Mets lead.
Said Mendoza: “Luis Gil’s fastball, after he blew one by him, and then taking him deep to the opposite field . . . Pretty impressive.”
Gil (9-3), who was charged with five runs in 4 1/3 innings, was better than in his last outing, when he gave up seven runs in 1 1/3 innings to the Orioles. But his ERA has increased from 2.03 to 3.15 in two outings.
Gil allowed four hits, walked four and struck out two. He left with one out and two on in the fifth with Alvarez due up.
Boone, for some reason, brought in lefthander Caleb Ferguson to face the righthanded-hitting Alvarez. That odd choice led to an RBI double one-hop off the rightfield wall that made it 4-0 and left runners on second and third.
Then came biblical rain, and wind, and thunder and lightning, and the game was halted. Fans were told to seek shelter on the concourse.
When play resumed 87 minutes later, Yoendrys Gomez was on the mound for the Yankees. The Mets batted around in the very, very long half-inning and scored three more runs on a bases-loaded walk by Mark Vientos, a sacrifice fly by Jeff McNeil and an RBI double by Bader to go up 7-0.
Gomez allowed Taylor’s homer in the sixth. That made it 10-2. Mets fans danced. Yankees fans started home.
Adrian Houser, a failed starter when the Mets were losing, threw three scoreless innings for his first career save.
Everything is going right for the Mets.
“To be in this position now is important,” Mendoza said. “Knowing that we’ve still got work to do and we’ve got a long ways to go . . . But it’s a good feeling now.”
Everything is going wrong for the Yankees.
“It’s part of the season,” Judge said. “Talking about things when they’re good, you’ve got to talk about things when they’re bad. That’s how it goes.”
The teams meet again at Yankee Stadium on July 23-24.
Anthony Rieber covers baseball, as well as the NFL, NBA and NHL. He has worked at Newsday since Aug. 31, 1998, and has been in his current position since July 5, 2004.