Yankees Pound Mets in Sweep of 2-Game Exhibition

YANKEES 6 - METS 0

If you could sum up these two games in just a few thoughts it is this: the 2020 New York Yankees look primed for a big run in a 60-game season. The 2020 New York Mets look primed for the season to be over before it ever starts.

That is what it looked like at Yankee Stadium, Sunday night, as the Bronx Bombers pounded five home runs en route to a 6-0 smackdown of their crosstown rivals, making it quiet apparent that even in a so-called exhibition there is a stark contrast between the two clubs.

For the first time this season Yankees fans saw a glimpse of what a healthy Yankees lineup could look this year with Aaron Judge, Giancarlos Stanton, DJ LeMahieu and Aaron Hicks all back in the lineup for the Bombers. The results were incredible.

Judge cracked two homers off Mets pitching, including a soft liner to left on an excuse me swing that was a quintessential Yankee Stadium home run in the bottom of the first inning to give the Yankees a 1-0 lead.

Judge finished the night with two homers and three RBI. For a guy coming off numerous injuries the past year, Judge looks ready to strike his mighty gavel this season.

Gary Sanchez and Luke Voit also joined the party with moon shots of their own as the Bombers continued to pound the Mets 4-0 as we moved into the sixth inning. Giancarlo Stanton capped off the scoring with a blast to the back of the bleachers in left-center to make it 6-0, New York.  

For his part on the mound, Jordan Montgomery was brilliant. The lefty tossed five shutout innings for the Yankees, surrendering only two hits and a walk; he struck out six. Montgomery looks ready to slide into the back end of the Yankees rotation.

As for the Mets, Sunday night was a culmination of a disastrous weekend. The team looks unprepared; the bullpen is still a major issue, and for two straight games the infield kicked the ball around like it was a lump of burning coal. Five errors by the Mets in just two games. That does not bode well.

Cory Oswalt and Drew Smith don't figure to be factors early in this season, and the Mets better hope neither factors at all. Neither pitcher was good. Oswalt was inconsistent with his control, allowing two homers on three hits and walking two over three innnings. Smith was worse, allowing a pair of homers and three runs in an inning and two-thirds. It was ex-Yankee Chasen Shreve who surrendered the blast by Stanton.

Whats more the offense was silent. Jeff McNeil and Pete Alonso were a combined 0-for-8 with four strikeouts - all but killing the Mets chances to get anything going offensively. Yoenis Cespedes was an invisible 0-for-2 on Sunday, leaving after the fourth inning.

With less than a week to go before the season begins, the Yankees look primed for a big run this year. The Mets look like a team ready to wallow in the bottom of a loaded NL East, unless they find a way to turn things around when the games start to count.