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.
Soto moving to Queens for a 15-year, $765-million deal gave a forever jolt to borough rivalry. Never had a player anywhere close to his stature left the Yankees for the Mets. He instantly gave a good team an even bigger, better vibe.
But he’s got to do more. He’s batting .246 with eight home runs and 20 RBI. His .822 OPS over a slow — for him — shows how high his floor is. His first foray into the Subway Series as a Met was, to say the least, a disappointment.
It’s a decent descriptor of the Mets for the whole series. They won the middle game, an entertaining affair that had pitching, power and some nifty defense. They lost the two bookends, managing a total of eight hits in the two losses.
Sunday, a first-inning error by Mark Vientos on a grounder hit by the first Yankee hitter, Goldschmidt, opened a path to two quick runs. In the eighth, with the infield in, Alonso fielded Jorbit Vivas’ grounder as Jasson Dominguez broke on contact for the plate.
On Saturday, Alonso threw Dominguez out at the plate on a similar plate. This time, Alonso’s toss sailed wide. Dominguez scored to break a 2-2 tie and the Yankees gorged afterward.
Alonso, to his credit, quickly came out to talk to reporters and gave himself every bit of blame for the loss.
“I just made an awful throw,” Alonso said. “I mean, that whole inning, this game, it’s on me. After that throw, the momentum got out of hand and they had really good at-bats. This one’s on me and it stinks because I had the same play (Saturday). I feel like, for me, that’s a play that I usually make and I can make pretty routinely.
“I had my feet set and I just didn’t get my fingers on top of the baseball and it sailed on me. … It’s really frustrating.”
Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said he feels like his team has played good defense for stretches this season. But, he acknowledged, there have been plays that should have been made that haven’t been.
“This is something that we got to get better at,” Mendoza said. “And we will.”
They’ll have a chance to show it starting Monday in Boston. Then comes a series with the Dodgers at Citi Field, an NLCS rematch sure to attract eyeballs, to say nothing of hype.
The next crack at the Yankees? That begins July 4 at Citi Field. It’ll be another charged atmosphere, another measuring stick. A chance for Soto to edit the story of his current place in the rivalry.
They’ll have to be better then.
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