The Yankees certainly didn’t look like the team on the field that was 16 games above .500, as they committed numerous errors and unmade plays that led to a 10-3 Mets win Friday night at Citi Field.
The first Mets run came about when the Yankee catcher did an ole play at the plate and missed the tag on the runner, despite having the ball at least 10 feet before the runner reached the plate. This would have looked bad in a high school game, much less an MLB one.
Then the Mets scored five runs in the third despite having just one hard-hit ball. If you like rallies with walks, fielder’s choices, wild pitches and errors – this was the inning for you.
The fourth inning finally provided some real offense, as Francisco Lindor homered and Javier Baez had an RBI double. But it was back to the fielder’s choice/error model in the eighth inning when the Mets scored their final two runs.
Tylor Megill gave up solo runs in the first two innings but then settled down to throw an MLB-high 7 IP and record a personal-best 10 Ks.
Luis Rojas used Heath Hembree and Yennsy Diaz to close things out, leaving the pen in excellent shape for the rest of the weekend.
Always like beating the Yankees. Five back of the Braves and on the verge of taking over 2nd from the Phillies. Good eyes at the plate were critical. Really thought that Alonso would K in that huge spot but he had a great at bat. And anyone who thinks the Mets should not sign Baez does not understand what an impact player looks like. Nice night at Citifield and Walker on the mound tomorrow.
A couple of years back, I liked Gary Sanchez as a good “buy-low” catcher. Then last year happened and I was concerned about his play, but mused some whether he would be worthwhile. When the Yankees signed him to a $6.3MM contract, I was surprised and didn’t think the Mets should pay that. After tonight, I wonder if anyone will sign him next year. It seems the Yankees are used to his screwups. I know he has a 1.2 bWAR, but that play tonight was inexcusable and lazy. Tag the player and stop being a moron. Wow. Wouldn’t touch him with a long stick.
Sorry 69, I don’t like Baez long term unless I just can’t get either Seagar or Correa. That being picked off shows his gambler side that looks great when it works, but looks bad when it doesn’t. If he was just careful enough to wait for the first move instead of running while the pitcher held the ball because he was so confident he could guess the timing, he would have had the third base. Instead, he cost his team a foolish out. Too, he’s a windmill and the Mets’ problem is too many of those; not enough guys that can put ash to rawhide when needing to.
I agree with Gus on Baez. He’s been red hot for the past week or so but before that he had t been very good as a Met. Lifetime he has a 104 OPS+ which makes him a little above average offensively. He’s a very good defensive player but I have a feeling he’s going to get a contract that we won’t want to live with. Also for every hot streak like he’s on now we are going to have to deal with many more stretches of him swinging at sliders a foot off the plate in big spots. Unless it’s a real team friendly contract, I’ll pass.
Gut Reaction: Megill pitched a very good game. It was nice to see a starting pitcher allowed to pitch seven innings.
Megill looks more and more legit… the silver lining to this season.
Nice having Baez, but not long term… probably seen his best days.
Nice to hear Keith say something valuable: “Lindor waits too long on ground balls”… totally totally true… and if he goes further out on relay in first inning, they get Gardner at third… maybe just lazy.
One of the reasons he was safe t home, Villar made a great slide… hard to imagine too many other Mets not giving up and getting tagged… the guy’s a baseball player.
Funnest game of the year to watch.
To me, the highlight of the night was Jeff McNeil’s drag bunt past the pitcher!
Always fun beating Yanks. It’s tough watching the Met brand of baseball, but Yankee brand may actually be worse…the play by Sanchez on Villar may be the single worst technical play I have ever seen by a big leaguer in 50 years of watching. McNeil and the small ball was awesome, harkening back to long lost baseball. Megill is showing more and more that he belongs.
Baez is incredibly toolsy, by far the most athletically gifted player on the team. But, as mentioned, he is all or nothing and while the team needs his aggression and attitude, some of his decisions on the bases are Murphian. As is the case with Plaweckian, that is not complimentary. He could help going forward, but is price tag will likely exceed his value.