It was a sloppy game full of errors and misplays, as the Yankees took the first game of the doubleheader over the Mets by a 12-5 score.

Jeff McNeil put the Mets up 4-1 early with a three-run bomb, and Tomas Nido recorded multiple hits, but Zack Wheeler gave up a career-high nine runs (five earned) in the loss. His defense paid him no favors, with the keys being a Todd Frazier throwing error and Amed Rosario‘s failure to touch the bag on a fielder’s choice.

The Yankee defense also committed three errors, but a five-run fourth inning put the Mets in too deep of a hole to battle back.

Offense

Pete Alonso got the start as the Mets’ rare DH, while J.D. Davis got the start in left field for the first game of the doubleheader. Dominic Smith started at first base, while Tomas Nido started behind the dish.

Jeff McNeilwas immediately retired on a great catch by left fielder Brett Gardner. The Mets looked lost against Masahiro Tanaka early, as Michael Conforto and Alonso both struck out.

The Mets went down one-two-three in the second inning as well. They recorded their first baserunner to lead off the third inning, when Amed Rosario reached on a Didi Gregorius throwing error. Nido immediately followed that up with the Mets’ first base hit of the game, and Rosario went first to third.

Juan Lagares then hit a hard ground ball up the middle that Gregorius could not quite corral, tying the game as everyone was safe on Lagares’s infield hit.

The Yankees’ corner infielders then stepped in as if McNeil might bunt with two on and nobody out. McNeil, in fact, did not bunt, instead blasting a three-run homer on the first pitch to give the Mets a 4-1 lead.

Todd Frazier led off the fourth by reaching on a missed catch error by Kendrys Morales, on an off-target throw by Gregorius. With two outs, Nido hit one that Gregorius stopped but could not handle, reaching on an infield hit as Frazier went to third. Lagares struck out to end the threat.

After the Mets went down quietly in the fifth, Smith led off the sixth with a double. Rosario brought him home with a ground ball single up the middle, shortening the Yankees’ lead to 9-5.

A Conforto single with two outs chased Tanaka out of the game, who ended up having a solid start despite the four-run third inning.

The Yankees’ bullpen corps of Tommy Kahnle and David Hale shut the door to finish off what ended up being a comfortable win for the Bronx Bombers, and an ugly loss for the Mets.

Pitching

Wheeler, who has been steady if unspectacular in his last few starts, took the mound for the Mets. He was pumping his fastball in the high 90s from the get-go, reaching 100 mph in the first inning. It was his effective slider though that helped him record two strikeouts in a perfect first inning.

Gregorius hit a one-out double in the second for the Yankees’ first baserunner, in just his third start since coming back from Tommy John surgery.

After Wheeler blew three fastballs by Clint Frazier, Morales lined an opposite-field single to give the Yankees a 1-0 lead. Wheeler’s woes with runners in scoring position continued, a situation in which Yankees hitters have excelled.

Gardner led off the third with a single, and Wheeler made a great barehand play on a comeback hit by DJ LeMahieu to get the force out at second. However, upon further review, Rosario did not step on the bag, so the call was overturned and the Yankees had two on with nobody out. The scoring decision was switched during the game, with an error being charged to Rosario on that play.

After Wheeler struck out Luke Voit for the second time, with runners on the corners and two out, Gary Sanchez blooped an opposite-field single to no-man’s land to cut the Mets’ lead to 4-2. Wheeler then struck out Gregorius to limit the damage.

The Yankees came back in a hurry though, as Gio Urshela blasted a two-run homer in the fourth inning to knot the game at 4-4. Wheeler’s issues with the long ball continue to persist.

Frazier made a two-base throwing error to put the go-ahead run in scoring position, and a wild pitch and a walk put runners on the corners with two outs. Voit, having struck out both times, then pummeled a three-run homer to give the Yankees a 7-4 lead. It became a five-run inning for the Yankees, capped by three unearned runs.

Wheeler seemed to almost settle down in the next inning, retiring the first two batters before Morales tapped a bloop double, Urshela brought him home with a single, and Gardner lined a run-scoring triple. This was finally enough to chase Wheeler from the game, with the Mets hoping to get some more length from him considering the doubleheader. The nine runs allowed was a career worst for Wheeler.

Wilmer Font replaced him, and induced a groundout from LeMahieu to mercifully end the inning. Font then worked around a leadoff double in the sixth to pitch a scoreless frame.

Font cracked in the seventh, allowing a run on doubles from Frazier and Urshela. With two on and one out, LeMahieu hit a fly ball to Davis in left, and Davis threw Urshela out at third trying to tag up.

In his first appearance since being promoted on Sunday, Tim Peterson gave up a walk and a two-run homer to Sanchez, as the Yankees just kept on pounding, extending their lead to 12-5.

On Deck

The Mets will take on the Yankees for the second time today at 7:05 ET, wrapping up the brief two-game set. Jason Vargas (2-3, 3.57 ERA) will take the mound for the Mets following his shutout against the Giants, while fellow southpaw James Paxton will make his third start since returning from a left knee issue for the Yankees.

The game will be televised by SNY and MLBN and broadcast on WCBS 880 and ESPN-1050.