In some ways, this weekend’s Subway Series could’ve been about the Mets taking over this baseball town. They came to the Yankees’ house toting their free agent prize, Juan Soto, pried from the Bronx last winter, along with a terrific pitching staff, a star shortstop and a better record. Maybe even better buzz citywide.
But the series ended and the Mets certainly didn’t look like the better team, especially after Sunday’s thud of a performance, an 8-2 loss that went kablooey in the eighth inning after Pete Alonso made a horrendous throw at first that allowed the go-ahead run to score, tilting a tight game.
Same old Mets?
Hopefully not. A few months from now, the Mets might be the better team and they’re so talented, on the field and in the front office, that an October stage should be their ultimate proving ground, regardless of what turn the rivalry might take next. The 29-18 Mets lost two of three, but still have a better record than the Yankees (27-19).
But their defense, something David Stearns has said the team could improve, hurt them badly Sunday night. Another recent bugaboo — hitting with runners in scoring position — stood out as a fail point once again. The Mets, who are ranked 25th in MLB in average with RISP, were 4-for-25 (.160) in such situations in the three games against the Yanks, including 1-for-7 Sunday.
Overall Sunday, the Mets had just three hits, none after the fourth inning. Soto, who was booed loudly all weekend in a stadium that adored him just a year ago, was 1-for-10 in the series, including 0-for-4 Sunday, with two runs scored. He walked four times, struck out thrice and stole two bases. Yes, there were some hard-hit outs. But there sure were a lot of outs.
To make the rivalry optics worse, the Yankees’ winter Plan B looked A-OK in this head-to-head. Key members of the group of players the Yanks turned to after Soto picked the Mets in a seismic free-agent faceoff were big pinstriped stars on Sunday.
Max Fried threw six sharp innings, Cody Bellinger drove home six runs and blew open the game with an eighth-inning grand slam. Paul Goldschmidt added an insurance RBI single and scored twice. Devin Williams, the demoted closer, contributed a scoreless setup inning both Friday and Sunday and was the winning pitcher in the finale.