Welp, that just happened. The Grimace Mets came into Yankee Stadium and swept the Yankees in a mini 2-game set this past Tuesday and Wednesday. The Yankee offense (yet again) did nothing and the Mets got to supposed Yankee aces Luis Gil and Gerrit Cole for the second time this season.
The Yankees finish the season 0-4 against the Mets and continue to spiral as the season goes on.
7/23: Mets 3, Yankees 2
Tuesday night’s matchup between the Yankees and Mets saw Luis Gil on the mound for the second time against the Mets. In his first start, Gil went for 4 1/3 IP, giving up 4 Hits, 4 BB and 5 ER while recording only 2 Ks. Not his best stuff by any means.
In Wednesday’s matchup, Gil went for 5.0 IP while only giving up 4 Hits and 1 ER. Gil also recorded 6 Ks, much better than the mere 2 Ks he got against the Mets back in June. Gil would leave the game with a 1-1 tie after 5 innings. In the top of the sixth, Yankee reliever Michael Tonkin would give up a 2-run shot to Jeff McNeil to put the Mets up 3-1. Following Tonkin, Caleb Ferguson (0.2 IP), Luke Weaver (1.0) and Clay Holmes (1.0) would round out the game for the Yankees and hold the Mets to 3 runs.
However, the Yankee bats yet again failed to show up. And despite an Alex Verdugo double in the bottom of the sixth to bring the Mets lead to within 1, the Yankees were not able to plate another run against the Mets bullpen. They would drop the first game of the series, and third overall, to the Mets 3-2.
The Yankee offense was only able to muster a piss-poor 5 hit performance. With Juan Soto going 0-4 and Aaron Judge going 0-1 with 4 walks, the Yankees would only get hits from the following guys: Anthony Volpe (2-4), Gleyber Torres (1-3), Alex Verdugo (1-2) & DJ LeMahieu (1-4). These were batters 5-7 and 9 in the Yankee lineup. Batters 1-4 (Jahmai Jones, Juan Soto, Aaron Judge, J.D. Davis with PHs Trent Grisham & Ben Rice) would go a combined 0-15.
The Yankees have struggled the whole year in finding bats to occupy their leadoff and cleanup spots; two absolutely pivotal slots in the lineup.
The Yankees leadoff spot ranks 27th in the league in OPS and their cleanup spot ranks 30th. Having inconsistency at both slots in the lineup, and injuries to important pieces like Giancarlo Stanton, will cause this to happen. Judge and Soto, ranked 1st and 2nd in the entire MLB in OPS, can only do so much.
If the Yankees do not find any sort of consistency with the bats surrounding Judge and Soto, they could very well miss the playoffs entirely.
7/24: Mets 12, Yankees 3
Wednesday night’s game between the Mets and Yankees saw Gerrit Cole take the mound hoping to bounce back after his last start against Grimace. Back on June 25th, Cole would give up 7 Hits (4 Homers) and 6 ERs over 4 Innings of work against the Mets. Cole would also not record a single strikeout for only the second time in his career.
This time around would not fair much better for Cole. The Mets used the long ball yet again to get to Cole, with homers from Tyrone Taylor, Pete Alonso & Francisco Lindor. Cole would end the night going 5.2 IP while giving up 8 Hits and 6 ERs.
Cole, a true competitor, can be seen visibly frustrated with his performance against the Mets. I do love the passion from Cole, who has had a solid overall year outside of his two starts against the Mets. Cole, who has a 5.40 ERA on the season, has an 11.10 ERA across two starts against the Mets. You just don’t love to see that.
I do believe Cole will continue to get better. And considering he can pitch well against anyone not named the Mets or Red Sox, there is still no cause for concern with the reigning AL Cy Young winner.
The Yankee bats continued to do absolutely nothing, a trend we see time and time again. The Mets team collected 14 hits while the Yankees only collected 6. Different from the first game of this series, however, is the top of the order delivered four of those Yankee hits: 2 from Torres and 2 from Soto. Still, not good enough.
Upcoming Series At Boston (7/26-7/28)
The Yankees schedule doesn’t get any easier. Starting tonight, they play a 3-game set at Boston against the Red Sox, who have already taken the first two series and are 4-2 against the Yankees this year.
The Yankees will be throwing Nestor Cortes (7/26), Marcus Stroman (7/27) & Carlos Rodon (7/28) against the Sox this weekend in hopes of righting the ship before it is too late.
