If one thing is certain after this weekend's first round of the Subway Series, it is this: The Yankees are just better than the Mets, at least right now.
Taking full advantage of a Pete Alonso throwing error on a hit-and-run in the bottom of the eighth inning, the Yankees wound up posting a six-run rally to sting their cross-town rivals 8-2 on Sunday night, taking the rubber match of a three-game series.
The capper, of course, came a couple of batters later in that eighth inning when Yankees outfielder Cody Bellinger sent one to the seats in right field for a grand slam homer. Ironically, the only Met closest to that ball was ex-Yankee Juan Soto, who could only watch as the fans who taunted him all weekend showered themselves in Mets tears.
For the Yankees, this was a statement series. At 27-19, the start to the 2025 season has been a rocky one for the Bronx Bombers, but they are in first place, and if one thing is clear, this weekend's Subway Series showed how deep the Yankees are, and how clutch they can be in pressure spots.
The Yankees as a team hit only .235 as a team against the Mets, but had a .356 on-base percentage in the series, with Bellinger playing the lead role.
In three games against the team from Flushing, Bellinger hit .636 (7 hits in 11 at-bats) with two homers, seven RBI, and 15 total bases. And this during a series where Aaron Judge didn't record a single RBI, let alone a home run.
Talk about picking up your teammates, and talk about being clutch.
The same can not be said for the Mets, who got seriously exposed.
The Amazin's hit .153 as a team in the Subway Series. In case you are wondering, that is 14 hits in 91 at-bats.
Soto -- for all the money he is making with the Amazin's, and all of the ridiculous vitriol he received this weekend from Yankees fans, was 1-for-10 in the three-game series. He was slow out of the box and looked like a hitter trying to swing the bat in quicksand.
It didn't help matters that both Pete Alonso (2-for-12) and Francisco Lindor (1-for-12) didn't hit either.
And that is the problem with the Mets. They are too reliant on Alonso, Lindor, and Soto. If neither hitter hits, the entire team won't hit. They aren't getting contributions from the others like Brandon Nimmo (.225 batting average this year), or Francisco Alvarez (only seven RBI this season), or Mark Vientos (18 RBI in 173 plate appearances).
The Mets got good to great pitching all weekend; Sunday's starter, David Peterson, matched zeroes with the Yankees' Max Fried for six strong innings. Yet it wasn't enough.
And that's the problem. Over their last five games, the Mets scored a combined 12 runs. That might work against the Pittsburgh Pirates. It won't work against teams like the Yankees.
So, as we sit here on May 19, the Mets and Yankees are both first-place teams, but heading in opposite directions.
The Yankees get the slumping Texas Rangers, Colorado Rockies, and LA Angels coming up over the next week before a World Series rematch with the Dodgers begins May 30. The Red Sox and Jays are five back. The Orioles are a mess, and Tampa is too young.
Things are looking up in the Boogie Down!
Meanwhile, the Mets face the Red Sox and Dodgers this week, and will see the Dodgers again in LA the first week of June. Oh, and the Phillies are just a half game out of first in the NL East. And the Braves aren't far behind either.
The Mets need help offensively, or things could spiral.
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