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Since joining the Houston Astros in 2017, Justin Verlander has been a Yankee killer. Going into his first Subway Series start on Wednesday night, the veteran right-hander had made 10 starts against the Bronx Bombers between the regular season and postseason, going 6-1 with a 2.05 ERA over 70 1/3 innings.

While his 2023 season has not gotten off to a similar start, Verlander was at his best facing his former Astros teammate Gerrit Cole and the Yankees. Verlander matched the Yankees’ ace, as both pitchers went six innings allowing just one run. In his six innings of work, Verlander allowed just three hits and no walks while striking out six.

The Mets went on to win the pitchers’ duel 4-3 and earn a split of the two-game Subway Series thanks to a walk-off double in the tenth inning from Brandon Nimmo.

“This is definitely the brightest light, especially in a regular season game,” Verlander said following his Subway Series debut. “At this point for our team, every win matters. We’ve got to start winning some ballgames.”

The brilliant outing on Wednesday night came at a time when the Mets needed it most. The team had lost nine of their last ten games and had been making a number of uncharacteristic mental mistakes on both sides of the ball. Wednesday was certainly no exception, as the Mets fell behind in the seventh behind a trio of poor plays in the field and blew an opportunity to take the lead in the bottom of the inning on a base running blunder. Despite the errors and mental mistakes, the Mets were able to pull off their comeback win thanks to Verlander’s strong outing.

“Justin gave us a chance,” Buck Showalter said following the game. “When you’re facing a good pitcher who is on top of his game, the key to staying engaged and winning those games is how well your starting pitcher does.”

It has been a Jekyll and Hyde season for the future Hall-of-Famer. He is 2-3 with a 4.40 ERA in his first eight starts, but that stat line doesn’t tell the whole story. Like the team as a whole, Verlander’s issue this year has been inconsistency. His first two starts after coming off the injured list were both strong outings, but since then, he has alternated between great starts and downright bad starts with no in-between over his next six outings.

Verlander’s next start will come next week in Houston when he takes on the team he spent the past five seasons with. He won two Cy Young Awards and two World Series in his five healthy years as a member of the Astros, and the Mets will need him to regain that consistency that helped revive his career in Houston.

The Mets’ pitching woes have been at the forefront of their struggles so far this season. They have a 4.69 ERA as a team, ranking 26th in MLB ahead of just the Reds, Rockies, Royals and A’s. If the Mets are going to turn their season around, it needs to start with their co-aces Verlander and Max Scherzer. Both have shown they can still pitch like aces, but the lack of consistency has burned the team that has struggled with consistency in nearly every facet of the game. Wednesday night was an encouraging outing for Verlander, and a return matchup in Houston should have the 40-year-old extra motivated to build off Wednesday’s gem.

Despite being four games under .500, they are just four games out of the final Wild Card spot thanks to MLB’s expanded playoffs. As poor as the Mets have looked over the season’s first two and a half months, they unquestionably have the talent to improve. As we saw from the Phillies last season, anyone who gets into the playoffs has a chance in a short series. With two co-aces who have had postseason success and three World Series rings between them, the Mets have the personnel who knows what it takes to win. The journey may not be as enjoyable as most of 2022 was, but the Mets don’t need to match their 101 regular season wins from last year to have a happier ending in October.