Subway Series: Mets top Yankees in opener on Jeff McNeil's go-ahead home run
The Mets’ Pete Alonso greets Jeff McNeil after his two-run home run against the Yankees during the sixth inning of an MLB game at Yankee Stadium on Tuesday. Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
There were plenty of players who underperformed during the first half of this baseball season. Few were as bad as the Mets’ Jeff McNeil.
The second baseman entered the season with a .289 career batting average, a batting title to his name and one of the heftier contracts at three years and over $40 million left on his deal. However, at the All-Star break he was in an epically bad place. He’s played 88 games to a slash line of .216/.276/.314.
McNeil was an eyesore.
It’s been an entirely different story since baseball resumed last Friday. In the Mets' five games, McNeil has hit four home runs and has eight RBIs.
The latest installment of the resurgence came Tuesday night on the big stage of the Subway Series when he hit a two-run home run into the Yankees bullpen in the sixth inning to send the Mets to a 3-2 victory before a sellout crowd of 47,453 at the Stadium.
“I’m more confident and my swing is right where it needs to be,” McNeil said. “I feel like I was back searching earlier in the year . . . but I feel a lot better. I feel like myself and its nice to have the results.”
“He’s back where we all know he’s capable of – a really good hitter,” Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said. “But now he’s driving the ball . . . He’s got conviction behind his swing and has a feel. We’ve been seeing it since the break and this is another example, getting a pitch there and driving it with authority. It’s a good time for it too.”
The Mets have beaten the Yankees in all three of their meetings so far this season with the finale coming Wednesday. Yankees ace Gerrit Cole will try to prevent the Mets from sweeping the season series.
McNeil’s home run, a 393-footer off reliever Michael Tonkin, broke a 1-1 tie. And though they did give up a run, the Mets’ bullpen – which has struggled for a month – held together to get the win. Mets relievers since June 23 had an MLB-worst 6.35 ERA entering play Tuesday.
Adam Ottavino gave up a run on an Alex Verdugo double in the bottom of the sixth. But Alex Young, Dedniel Nunez, Phil Maton and Jake Diekman got the final 11 outs to preserve the win. Mets closer Edwin Diaz threw 28 pitches in Miami in Sunday’s win and wasn’t an option, Mendoza said.
The Mets had essentially removed Aaron Judge from the Yankees’ offensive equation by walking him four times but Diekman had to face him with a runner on first base and one out in the ninth. He got Judge looking at strike three and then got Ben Rice to hit into a game-ending groundout.
“Not nibble around the zone, but make quality pitches where the damage can be the least amount possible,” is how Diekman described the approach pitching to Judge in the ninth and striking him out on a fastball on the inside of the plate.
Of the last pitch to the Yankees slugger, Diekman said, “It was spotted perfectly. It’s pretty much exactly what we wanted.”
“When the ninth inning started, we were just going to see how it played out and see where it is when we get to (Judge),” Mendoza said. “With a runner at first base, I decided to pitch to him. I’m glad it worked out today . . . It was feel for the game there. With a runner on second it could have been a different story.”
Mets starter Jose Quintana (5-6) rebounded from a poor start against the Rockies in his final start before the break with five innings of one-run baseball. He gave up three hits and walked five – three times sidestepping Judge with free passes – and struck out six. The Yankees were 0-for-3 with runners in scoring position in those five innings.
Yankees starter Luis Gil didn’t factor into the decision after pitching five innings of one-run ball. The rookie righthander was impressive in getting through the first four innings on 66 pitches with just one hit and one walk allowed. He allowed hits to the first three batters in the fifth and though he only allowed one run – on a bases-loaded hit-by-pitch – he threw 25 pitches in the inning and it ended his evening.
Gleyber Torres put the Yankees on the board first with a one-solo home run to right field in the second inning. It was his ninth homer and first since June 28.
The Yankees had another excellent opportunity in the fourth when the first two hitters, Anthony Volpe and Torres, singled and walked, respectively.
Verdugo – who accounted for 40 of the 52 RBIs this season from the bottom third of Tuesday’s batting order – made the odd choice to sacrifice the two runners into scoring position. Carlos Narvaez and DJ LeMahieu made outs to end the inning.
The Mets scored a run in the fifth to tie it when Francisco Lindor was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded. The Mets might have scored more after the three straight hits that loaded them, but McNeil thought Verdugo might catch a Taylor drive to the wall in left centerfield and couldn’t advance more than one base.
Roger Rubin returned to Newsday in 2018 to write about high schools, colleges and baseball following 20 years at the Daily News. A Baseball Hall of Fame voter since 2011, he has covered 13 MLB postseasons and 14 NCAA Final Fours.
More Yankees headlines
