The New York Mets started off the second half of their season in a strong way, as they burst out of the gate with a 7-5 victory over the New York Yankees in Yankee Stadium.

In a game that saw the return of Yoenis Cespedes to the Mets lineup, the Mets got off to a hot start early in the game. The first inning was a successful one for the Mets, as they scored three runs to get on the board early. Asdrubal Cabrera, Michael Conforto, and Jose Bautista each laced a double in that inning to out the Mets up.
In the third inning came a sight for sore eyes for Mets fans. Cespedes hit a home run in his first game back, but it wasn’t his typical bomb-like shot. Instead, he hooked a ball that appeared like it would be a foul ball down the left field line. It ended up being a weak ball off of the foul pole that traveled all of 314 feet, but nonetheless put the Mets ahead 4-0.

Starting on the mound for the Mets was Noah Syndergaard, who pitched like he had four hours of sleep under his belt, but got his job done regardless. Despite allowing a single in every inning that he pitched, Syndergaard was able to battle through his slight struggles to limit any significant damage. Syndergaard’s visible exhaustion on the mound concerned manager Mickey Callaway enough to the point that he talked to Syndergaard on the mound. He proved to be fine however, and finished his five innings with one earned run allowed and four strikeouts, and threw 85 pitches.

After Syndergaard was finished for the evening, the bullpen team of Seth Lugo and Robert Gsellman came in for relief. That’s when the Yankees started to chip into the lead, as they scored two runs in the sixth inning off of Lugo, and two runs in the eighth inning off of Gsellman to cut into the lead. However, Gsellman was able to march back out in the ninth inning and earn the save.

Something important happened in the top of the ninth, and it showed some growth on behalf of this team. The Mets played small ball to earn their insurance run, which is something that seems to have evaded this team this season. After Cabrera singled and then advanced to second on a wild pitch, Wilmer Flores grounded out to Neil Walker to move Cabrera to third. Following that out, Conforto flew out to drive Cabrera in, earning the sacrifice fly and an honest insurance run. My Gut Reaction is that if the Mets continue to make the right plays like they did in the ninth inning, the second half of the season will be more fruitful than the first.

Following the win, the Mets improved to 40-55 on the season. They are back in action tomorrow afternoon in Yankee Stadium, as Steven Matz will take on Sonny Gray at 1:05 pm.

12 comments on “Gut Reaction: Mets 7, Yankees 5 (7/20/18)

  • Mike Koehler

    I liked the small ball, but the story of the ninth inning was Jeurys Familia, or to be more specific, his absence. And then the hug.

    • MattyMets

      I keep refreshing Twitter to see what uniform Familia will be wearing by the end of the weekend. Two teams I keep seeing are A’s and Giants.

  • Chris F

    Good bye Jeurys. Good luck in your new uni.

  • Chris F

    lots postgame:

    German optioned by yanks to AAA

    • TexasGusCC

      Chris, “the” news:
      – As per WFAN, Cespedes has calcification in both heels and needs surgery to fix. Cespedes says recovery is 8-10 months. Thus, Cespedes wants to have it after the season. Seriously.
      – The Yankees prefer Syndergaard. This will keep Torres on their team. Interesting.
      – Familia to the A’s is ask ally done. Will be announced tomorrow, as per WFAN and MLBTR.
      – Per MLBTR, T.J. Rivera experienced a right elbow strain. Out for a few weeks.
      – Thor suffered a velocity decrease that Callaway attributes to fatigue. Um, first game back after a week off?

      As for the game, the Mets looked pumped up for the atmosphere early and it seems that the electricity gave Rosario the jitters as he had a bad defensive game. As I watched it at work without volume, did anyone hear an explanation what happened in the sixth inning between Rosario and MDD?

      • Mike Walczak

        I just read the Cespedes news. What a mess. I wonder if this was a problem that he had all along and they missed it when they traded for him.

        He will probably end up on the DL again.

  • Mike Walczak

    Ok, if it is the A’s, who are we getting?

    Franklyn Barreto ?
    Jesus Luzardo ?
    Sean Murphy?
    Jose Canseco ?

  • Mike Walczak

    I hope it is the catcher Sean Murphy or the pitcher Jesus Luzardo.

    My honest guess is a box of Cheerios and a pair of yellow and green socks.

  • Brian Joura

    Announcers speculated that Rosario couldn’t hear MDD calling for the ball until the very end. Either one could have caught the ball if the other wasn’t around. It happens and the best we can say is no one got hurt on the play.

    Nice to see Conforto make solid contact.

  • John Fox

    One (of several) odd plays was the ordinary grounder that Gregorius hit, Lugo nearly snagged it, then it got under Cabrera’s glove and got past Rosario backing up the play.

    • MattyMets

      Despite winning, there is just such a stark contrast between these teams. The talent, the fundamentals, coaching, etc. the Yankees have always seemed to have Lady Luck on their side too. Half of their hits were of the seeing eye single variety and Didi’s opposite field slash double barely hit the left field line.

      Last night was a microcosm of this season under Callaway. Starter pulled early (justifiably so in this particular case), bullpen barely holds onto 5-run lead. For Callaway’s unwavering style to work he needs a bullpen like the Yankees have and he’ll never get that in Flushing.

  • TJ

    I really liked what I saw from both Lugo and Gsellman last night. It is very difficult to pitch in front of bad defense, and the Met defense is just horrendous. Despite that, in a big game in front of a big road crowd, with mounting pitch counts and the closer unavailable, they battled every pitch. I see these two as part of the solution going forward, so hopefully the Mets hold n to the (barring a crazy overpay), and hopefully each is given appropriate rest after the draining performances.

    Regarding Yo, the Mets immediately need to get another opinion, and get him to surgery as soon as possible if that is the remedy. The is zero point in him playing another game in 2018 if it pushes a recovery or correction into 2019. I mean, can someone please page Captain Obvious?

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