Mets Pound Punchless Yankees to Open 2nd Round of Subway Series

 METS 10 - YANKEES 3 

Let's first be honest here, the Mets are not going anywhere. A .500 team that loses two of three to the Marlins over the week; whose front office is in disarray after not just one, but two general managers went by the wayside for poor judgement off the field, and whose owner battles anyone and everyone on Twitter, is not heading to the postseason. 

Yet that doesn't mean they can't beat a scuffling Yankees team. 

And that is exactly what happened Friday night. The Mets pounded the Yankees 10-3 on Friday, sending the Bronx Bombers to their seventh straight loss. And since that wonderful 13-game winning streak, the Yankees are 2-11 in their last 13 game. 

The only shred of good news for the Yankees is the fact the Toronto Blue Jays lost to the Baltimore Orioles, meaning the Yanks maintain a slim 1/2 game lead for the final wild card slot. The Red Sox are in the process of losing to the Chicago White Sox, so Boston won't gain any more ground for the top wild card position. 

The Yankees threw the ball all over the place, a pair of errors officials, and a comedy of mistakes defensively helped pave the way for the Amazin's. 

The seeds of discontent were planted for the Bombers in the bottom of the first inning when catcher Gary Sanchez, decided to get out of his crouch from behind home plate, and failed to apply the tag on an incoming Jonathan Villar, who wound up scoring the tying run. That play was emblematic of what was to come. 

By the third inning, the Mets took full advantage of an erratic Jordan Montgomery. Villar singled to lead off the inning, and Francisco Lindor  and Michael Conforto both drew walks.  Pete Alonso, who has struggled in bases loaded situations here over the last month, drew a walk on 3-2 to tie the game at two a piece. 

A batter later, Javier Baez reached on a fielder's choice when third baseman Gio Urshela threw the grounder passed Sanchez at home plate, allowing Lindor to score the go-ahead run for the Mets. 

Jeff McNeil reached on a drag bunt base hit to drive in Conforto, and just like that it was 4-2 Mets. 

After Kevin Pillar's sac fly brought home Alonso to make it 5-2, James McCann doubled home McNeil to complete the five-run output in the third inning. 6-2 Mets. 

Baez and Lindor, ever so much villains in the eyes of Mets fans two weeks ago after their thumbs down theatrics, added to the lead in the bottom of the fourth on a solo shot by Lindor, and a RBI double by Baez to give the Mets an 8-2 lead. 

Montgomery was charged with seven runs, five earned, over three-and-a-third innings of work. 

On the flip side, Tylor Megill was lights out for the Mets in what was easily his best outing of the season. He held the Yankees to just two runs, an Aaron Judge RBI ground out in the top of the first inning, and a Joey Gallo solo homer in the top of the third inning.

Megill struck out a season high 10 batters over seven innings of work. He is now 3-4. 

The Mets are back to an even .500 (71-71). The Yankees are now 78-63, having lost seven in a row, in dire straits to get back on track rather soon. But what else would one expect from two madly inconsistent baseball teams.