It is always fun when the New York Mets and the New York Yankees get together and this weekend was no different. Here is a look back at what was an emotional roller-coaster of a subway series.
Subway Series Game 1
The series started on Friday Night with Joba Chamberlain going for the Yankees against Livan Hernandez. Joba struggled going just four innings, with five walks and two hit batsmen. Livan went deeper but he gave 6 runs. The Yankees' offense did what it does best, slugging four homeruns (Jeter, Posada, Teixeira, Matsui). Meanwhile, the Mets' offense exploded for eight runs, the middle of the order (Beltran, Wright, Sheffield, Church) was especially productive. Except for one bad pitch by John Switzer, the Mets' bullpen outpitched the Yankees' bullpen and put them in position to win as they led 8-7 in the ninth. When A-Rod hit a seemingly harmless pop-up to second base with two outs in the ninth it looked like the Mets had the win in the bag. Unfortunately, fate had a cruel twist in store for the Mets as Castillo inexplicably dropped the ball, allowing two runs to score and blowing the game. It was the most excruciating of many painful losses for the Mets over the past few years. So, how would they bounce back?
Subway Series Game 2
The Mets would bounce back in a big way on Saturday. With a balanced attack, they pounded Yankees' starter Andy Petitte for five runs on twelve hits in five innings on their way to six runs on seventeen hits for the game. Fernando Nieve, in his first start as a Met was great, going 6 2/3, giving up just two runs. Offensively, Mets' catcher Omir Santos, who has been a pleasant surprise this year, led the way with a home run and 3 RBIs as the Mets cruised to a 6-2 win, evening the series and setting up the rubber match on Sunday.
Subway Series Game 3
On Sunday afternoon it was about as one-sided as a game can be. The Yankees tagged Mets' ace Johan Santana for a career high 9 ER and knocked him out in the fourth inning. In said fourth inning, the Yankees' offense exploded for 9 runs on route to a 15-0 win. A.J. Burnett and two relievers combined on the shutout. The Yankees had a balanced attack offensively amassing a total of seventeen hits.
Playoff Outlook for Yankees & Mets
The Yankees and Mets are both longshots to win their respective divisions. The Mets, because of all their injuries, and the Yankeees because, quite frankly, they aren't as good as Boston, as evidenced by their 0-8 record against them this year. However, both teams have to be considered favorites to win the wild-card in their respective leagues.
The Yankees are currently three games ahead of Toronto, Tampa Bay, and Anaheim for the AL wild-card. Toronto has cooled after a strong start, while Tampa Bay and Anaheim have struggled with injuries and are not having the same type of seasons that they did last year. Expect the Yankees to win the AL wild-card comfortably.
As for the Mets, they currently sit 1.5 games back of San Francisco for the NL wild-card. St. Louis is also 0.5 game up on them. There are several other teams also in the mix. If the Mets can get healthy, though, they are the most talented of all the teams in the mix. They hope to get Reyes and Delgado back shortly after the MLB all-star break and will keep their fingers crossed for Putz and Wagner sometime in August. If they are at full strength for the stretch run they figure to have the upper hand as far as nabbing the N.L. wild-card.
Considering the fact that several wild-card teams have made it to and won the World Series over the years, there is hope in New York for the possibility of a Subway Series when it really matters, in October. As for the near future, the Mets and Yankees will hook up in the second round of the Subway Series in two weeks at Citi Field. It will be interesting to see where both teams stand at that point. The Yankees will be facing the bottom-feeders in the NL East for the next three series so they figure to start pulling away in the A.L. wild-card race. As for the Mets, they face a much tougher schedule. They go to Baltimore, who is over .500 at home, then they host Tampa Bay, who is starting to play better, and then St. Louis, who is always tough. For now, though, the Mets just hope to stay above water until they get healthy after the all-star break and hopefully make their big playoff push then. In two weeks, there will be a subway series round two. New York fans hope there will be a round three in late October.
