YANKEES NARROWLY AVOID SWEEP BY METS

This weekend was the second Subway series of the season between the NY Yankees and NY Mets.

The Yankees were winning game 1 with a score of 5-3 until the bullpen took over in the sixth inning. Marcus Stroman got the start and gave up 3 runs in 5 innings. Justin Hagenman made his MLB debut for the Mets. He gave up 4 runs in 4 1/3 innings. Both teams scored 2 runs each in the first inning. Jasson Dominguez and Aaron Judge hit home runs in their first at bats and Juan Soto hit a 2 run home run in his first at bat. The Mets took the lead in the third inning with a RBI single by Pete Alonso but the next inning Cody Bellinger tied the game for the second time with a solo home run. Dominguez hit a 2 run home run, his second home run of the game, in the fifth inning giving the Yankees the lead. But in the sixth inning Ian Hamilton gave up one run and then in the seventh inning Luke Weaver gave up 2. Brett Baty and Jeff McNeil both hit home runs. The Yankees lost 5-6.

Game 2 started off with the Yankees down runs as Carlos Rodon gave up 5 runs in the first two innings. He finished the game pitching 5 innings with 7 runs but only 6 earned and only 4 strikeouts. The bullpen didn’t fair any better allowing a combined 5 additional runs. Former Yankee Frankie Montas made his second start of the season for the Mets. He allowed 4 runs in 5 2/3 innings. Rodon loaded the bases in the first inning which were cleared by Brandon Nimmo’s home run. Jazz Chisholm Jr. also hit a home run in the first inning. Starling Marte hit a RBI single in the second inning putting the Mets up 5-1. Austin Wells hit a solo home run in the third inning closing the gap slightly but Pete Alonso hit a 2 run home in the fifth inning. Cody Bellinger hit a 2 run double in the sixth inning and Anthony Volpe hit a home run in the seventh inning putting the Yankees down by 2 but then the Yankees bullpen came in and allowed 5 more runs. Two runs scored on a fielding error during Francisco Lindor’s single and Alonso hit another 2 run home run in the seventh inning. Ben Rice hit a RBI double in the eighth inning but the Yankees were still down 5 runs. To top it off Juan Soto hit a RBI single in the eighth inning to make it 6 runs. Yankees lost 6-12.

It was announced that Clarke Schmidt was being placed on the IL and may need season ending Tommy John surgery. This would be his second surgery.

Game 3 the Yankees were able to avoid the sweep and pull out a win. Max Fried allowed 3 runs in 5 innings and struck out 5. The Mets, battling an issue with several injured pitchers used 5 pitchers for this game starting with Chris Devenski, who allowed only 1 hit in 2 innings. Zack Pop and Brandon Waddell pitched the next four innings for the Mets. The Yankees didn’t score until the third inning with a home run by Austin Wells. They scored 2 more runs in the fourth inning when Wells and Anthony Volpe both hit into fielder’s choices. Aaron Judge hit a 2 run home run in the fifth inning. The Mets didn’t score until the fifth inning when 2 runs scored on Francisco Lindor’s single. The Mets scored 2 more runs in the sixth inning putting them down by 1 run and making Yankees fans nervous but Judge hit a RBI sacrifice fly in the sixth inning and the Yankees won this game 6-4. The Yankees avoided a 6 game losing streak and avoided the series sweep.

They l are now 3.5 games behind the Toronto Blue Jays in the AL East standings with the Tampa Bay Rays only a half game behind them.

They head into this week with a 3 game series against the Seattle Mariners and a 3 game series against the Chicago Cubs before heading into the all star break.

Luis Gil is making progress on his return from injury throwing batting practice at Double A Somerset Patriots last week. He may see a minor league rehab start in the near future. Hopefully we will see his return after the all star break.