There was plenty of hype heading into Tuesday with the Yankees headed to Citi Field with the best record in the majors to face the Mets for two games. Two big crowds — including the 10th biggest in Citi Field history on Wednesday at 43,693– got to witness a pair of great games that ended with a walk-off single by Mets outfielder Starling Marte on Wednesday to complete the sweep.
The series started with a bang on Tuesday with the Yankees hitting back-to-back solo homers in the first inning only to have the Mets hit two home runs of their own on the way to scoring four runs in the bottom half of the inning. Mets third baseman Eduardo Escobar hit a two-run homer in that inning to give the Mets a 4-2 lead they would never relinquish in the 6-3 win. Marte and Francisco Lindor each had two hits in the game but Pete Alonso was the big offensive note with three hits and a walk.
Taijuan Walker bounced back after a rough first inning to pitch six solid innings and then was followed by Adam Ottavino getting five outs without allowing and run. Then came arguably the best closer in baseball, Edwin Diaz. The Mets elite reliever continued his unreal season by getting four outs and all of them coming via strikeouts. He’s now struck out 81 of the 157 batters he’s faced this season.
Escobar’s first-inning home run was a huge boost for the Mets and set an early message to the Yankees that it was going to be a tough series. “It was honestly like a World Series home run. I’ve never played in an environment like that. The way that the game was being played, honestly it felt like a World Series environment there,” Escobar said.