METS 6 - YANKEES 3
It had all the earmarks of a postseason game. A stadium filled to the gills; fans on the edge of their seats, and total tension from the first pitch to the very last pitch. For three and a half hours, New York sports fans were treated to great theatre as the Mets and Yankees -- two of baseball's best teams this season went toe-to-toe for the first time this year, and it didn't disappoint.
The final score read 6-3 Amazin's, but the road to get there was full of swings of emotion.
Before anyone could settle into their seats, the Yankees jumped out to an early 2-0 lead when Aaron Judge and Anthony Rizzo both went deep off Mets starter Taijuan Walker in the top of the first inning. The Mets responded just as quickly. A solo shot by Starling Marte with one out in the bottom half of the first cut the Yankees lead in half.
Francisco Lindor followed that up with a double, and was driven in by Pete Alonso, who lined a double to center, tying the game at two. Two batters later, Eduardo Escobar crushed a Jordan Montgomery fastball over the left field wall for a two-run homer to put the Mets up 4-2.
Nearly 45 minutes into the game, we had two lead changes, four home runs and six runs scored between the two New York rivals. And it was only the first inning.
Montgomery didn't last much longer for the Yankees. He was removed in the third inning after giving up the fifth run of the game when Josh Donaldson errantly threw a ground ball off the helmet of Francisco Lindor. Starling Marte alertly scored on the play to make it 5-2.
The biggest moment of the game came in the top of the fourth when Walker couldn't find the strike zone. He fell behind 3-0 to Aaron Hicks, before Hicks singled with one out. Isiah Kiner-Falefa followed with a single of his own, and Jose Trevino reached on a fielder's choice when Escobar fielded the ball at third and his throw to second was too late to tag out the Falefa. With the bases full, D.J. LaMahieu grounded out to drive in a run to make it 5-3. Walker then walked Judge to reload the bases. Finally, Rizzo sent a Walker pitch all the way to the warning track in center before Brandon Nimmo tracked it down for the final out.
The Mets took a sigh of relief.
The game would remain a pitchers duel the rest of the way.
After getting into trouble in the fourth, Walker settled in to deliver six quality innings for the Mets to get the victory, his 10th of the year.
On the flip side, the Yankees pen was phenomenal in keeping the Mets silent until Jeff McNeil added some insurance with a RBI single in the eighth to make it 6-3.
Edwin Diaz was untouchable in the end. Diaz came in with Hicks on first in the top of the eighth, and Falefa scheduled to bat. Instead, Yankees skipper Aaron Boone pinch hit with Joey Gallo, a decision that stunned Yankees fans. Gallo proceeded to strikeout.
Finally, in the ninth, Diaz worked around his own error when he bobbled a grounder by Aaron Judge, and struck out the side, including Rizzo and Gleyber Torres to end the ballgame.
The Mets and Yanks will do it again tonight at 7:05 with Max Scherzer facing off against Domingo German.
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