METS 10 - YANKEES 5 - Game 1
YANKEES 4 - METS 2 - Game 2
For the Mets it was easily one of the best victories of the season. For the Yankees it was one of their worst; heck one could argue the Yanks suffered two of the worst losses of their season in the same week on the same home-stand.
In what was a wild opening game of the day-night double-header, the Mets stormed back twice, once from 4-1 down, and again from 5-4 to stun the Yankees and drop them to an even .500 at 41-41, as once again Aroldis Chapman imploded on the hill for the Bombers.
There was so much to take away from the first game.
For starters, the Mets had numerous opportunities early in the ball game to knock Gerrit Cole out, but failed to do so. In the top of the 2nd, with the Mets leading 1-0, the umpires initially ruled that Jeff McNeil was out at first, but replay proved that he was indeed safe. The call was reversed, but the Mets could't move him as Billy McKinney struck out and Tomas Nido lined out to right.
Then in the top of the third, after the Yankees scratched out three runs to take a 3-1 advantage, the Mets got Luis Guillorme on base with an infield single, and it appeared that Brandon Nimmo beat out Luke Voit at first for a single of his own, but he was called out. The umpires did not reverse that call that time, which proved to be an inning killer for the Amazin's.
Still, the Mets hung around. In the top of the fourth, Cole lose Michael Conforto to a walk after getting ahead of him with a 1-2 count. McNeil singled, and McKinney walked. That set the table for Nido with the bases full, and the Mets back-up catcher slapped a single to right to plate a run, cutting the Yankees lead to 4-2.
Two batters later, Nimmo ripped a single to right-center to cut the deficit to 4-3, and chase Cole out of the game.
Cole lasted only 3.1 innings for the Yankees, allowing four runs on six hits.
With Jonathan Loasiga on the hill in relief of Cole, Francisco Lindor slapped a single to right, driving in McKinney with the tying run.
And it felt for a while like all the Mets best efforts would be for not, especially after Marcus Stroman's wild pitch brought in D.J. LeMahieu with the go-ahead run in the fifth, and Loasiga settled into a nice grove for the Yankees on the hill.
Then Chapman came in and the bottom fell out. He left a hanger over the plate that Pete Alonso corked over the left field wall into the Mets bullpen to tie the game at five. Alonso pumped his fists in the air, as Chapman wrapped his arms around his head in disgust.
It didn't get any better for the embattled closer who hit Conforto and walked McNeil before Aaron Boone removed him from the game to a chorus of boos.
The Mets had life.
Kevin Pillar singled off Lucas Luetge to get the party started. Then Jose Peraza hit one deep to left that a Mets fan leaned over the wall and caught resulting in a ground-rule double and two runs for the Mets to take a 7-5 lead.
Brandon Nimmo then got that fan off the hook when he doubled to left to give the Mets a 9-5 lead. Lindor capped off the stunning Mets rally with a RBI single to plate Nimmo to push the Mets lead to 10-5.
The win gave the Mets the series, and sent the Yankees back into the clubhouse pondering their problems. They had both Cole and Chapman and couldn't get the job done.
In the nightcap, the Yankees rode the left arm of Nestor Cortes and reliever Chad Green to stop the Mets from pulling off a series sweep in the Bronx.
Cortes was brilliant, holding the Mets to just two hits over 3.1 innings, but Aaron Boone decided to take him out of the game in the fourth for Darren O'Day, and that almost blew up in his face when Alonso cracked a two-run shot to right that cut the Yankees lead to 3-2.
On the flipside, Corey Oswalt struggled in a bullpen outing for the Mets, serving up a three-run homer to Gio Urshela in the second inning. While he settled down a bit after that, the Mets just couldn't do anything offensively.
Green shut the Mets down in the final three innings of the game as Chapman never got into the ballgame, an obvious choice by the Yankees who needed the win to get back over .500.
Even with the loss in the nightcap, the Mets have to feel good about taking two-of-three from their crosstown rivals in a critical series for both at this juncture of the season.
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