The New York Mets (56-52) defeated the New York Yankees (54-54) by a score of 4-1 Thursday night in the Bronx. With the Cardinals’ loss, the Mets pull within one game of the second NL Wild Card spot.
Offense:
The Mets spoke softly until Kelly Johnson‘s big stick lined a “Yankee Stadium home run” to right field in the 5th inning, giving the Mets a 1-0 lead. With one out in the inning, Curtis Granderson lined a hustle double to left-center field and Alejandro De Aza reached on a fielders’ choice. He grounded back to Yankees’ starter Nathan Eovaldi, who tried to throw out Granderson retreating to second but was unsuccessful. Neil Walker popped up to the infield for the second out.
Jay Bruce then smashed a three-run home run far over the 385 foot sign in right-center field, his first hit as a Met, to give the Mets a 4-0 lead.
The Mets only had six hits, with Neil Walker, James Loney, and Travis d’Arnaud also recording knocks.
Pitching:
Bartolo Colon was absolutely brilliant tonight, tossing 6 2/3 innings allowing one earned run on six hits, striking out one and walking none.
Big Sexy was relieved after throwing only 90 pitches by Jerry Blevins to face the switch hitting Aaron Hicks, who is much less proficient as a right handed batter. The move backfired, however, as Hicks lined a base hit to center field, scoring the runner from second base (the run was charged to Colon). He induced a fielder’s choice off the bat of Brett Gardner to end the inning.
Addison Reed came in for the 8th and was greeted rudely by Jacoby Ellsbury who crushed a ball to the warning track in center field, but Alejandro De Aza covered a ton of ground to make a great catch for the first out. He then made quick work of Chase Headley and Brian McCann, striking them out.
Jeurys Familia came in for the 9th inning with the Mets up 4-1. Starlin Castro flew out before Didi Gregorius lined a single over a leaping Matt Reynolds. Gary Johnson then nubbed an infield hit towards third base; he couldn’t have walked out there and placed it any better. So, with runners on first and second and one out, Rob Refsnyder slapped a ball down the third base line, on which Kelly Johnson turned a nice 5-5-3 double play to end the game.
Notes:
Verizon Trivia Question: Who was the only Mets pitcher to record a win in the 2000 Subway Series?
Fun Fact: Jay Bruce‘s first hit as a Met was a home run. Before Jay Bruce, the last player to hit a home run for his first hit as a Met was Jeremy Hefner (2012).
Fun Fact: The Indians beat the Twins today. In that game, all four Cleveland infielders hit a home run and all three starting outfielders had an assist. That’s the first time in MLB history that’s happened.
Fun Fact: Bartolo Colon is the first pitcher to win a game for both the Yankees and the Mets in a subway series game.
Verizon Trivia Answer: John Franco (Game 3)
On Deck:
The Mets and Noah Syndergaard (9-5, 2.48 ERA) will travel to Detroit to face the Tigers and Justin Verlander (11-6, 3.54 ERA) Friday night at 7:10 PM ET.
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