The New York Mets clashed with the New York Yankees for the final Subway Series matchup of the regular season on Tuesday evening. Taijuan Walker was set to make his return to the mound after leaving a game early in Atlanta with back spasms last week. Frankie Montas made his fourth start with the Yankees since being acquired at the trade deadline from the Oakland A’s.

Although not perfect, the starting pitching was exceptional in this one. Both starters allowing just two runs apiece keeping their respective team right in it. Despite the Mets offense making noise in the ninth inning, the Yankees came out on top in this one by the score of 4-2.

Starling Marte singled on a bloop hit to right field in the first inning, the ball falling out of reach for rookie-utilityman Oswaldo Cabrera. Francisco Lindor then walked, bringing Pete Alonso to the dish with two men on. Marte and Lindor would end up being stranded on base after Alonso fouled out to the first base side, and Daniel Vogelbach struck out to end the top frame.

Walker sat down the first nine batters he faced, allowing no baserunners after three innings of work. He picked up a pair of strikeouts and looked to be settling in nicely.

Montas regained his form in the third inning after allowing two runners on in each of the first two innings. He struck out the side in order. Brandon Nimmo, Marte and Francisco Lindor all going down on strikes.

Andrew Benintendi led off the bottom of the fourth inning with a base hit to right field. Walker was able to get DJ LeMahieu to roll over into a 5-4-3 double play. With two outs, the league leader in home runs stepped up to the plate. Aaron Judge blasted a long shot deep into the left field seats to open up the scoring. Walker seemed to lose his rhythm after the home run and looked to be shaken up a bit. He allowed back-to-back singles to Anthony Rizzo and Gleyber Torres. He then walked Josh Donaldson to load up the bases with two outs. Walker had the opportunity to escape further damage with Cabrera stepping up to bat who was hitting under the Mendoza line, but he did not regain his control and walked Cabrera on a 3-2 breaking ball, allowing Rizzo to score. After four innings, the Bronx Bombers led by two.

Mark Canha led off the fifth inning by ripping a double off of Montas. Brett Baty hit a groundball to the right side, but was awarded first base on catchers interference. Kyle Higashioka was charged with an error. Tomás Nido laid down a perfect sacrifice bunt to advance the runners to second and third. Marte lined a RBI single the other way to right field plating Canha. An on-target throw from Cabrera beats Baty to the plate where he was tagged out to end the inning. The Mets picked up a run on the play, cutting the deficit in half.

The Mets tied up the game in the next inning. McNeil smacked a two-out RBI double into the right-center field gap. Alonso, who singled earlier in the inning, crossed the plate to make the score 2-2.

The Yankees regained the lead in the seventh inning. Benintendi ripped a single into left field to bring in Cabrera. Judge then followed that up with an RBI single of his own, continuing his big day at the plate.

The Mets offense made things interesting in the top of the ninth inning down by two runs. With two outs, Tyler Naquin came into pinch hit for Nido. Naquin worked a walk to set up a potential rally. Nimmo worked the count and reached base safely with an infield single up the middle, allowing Naquin to advance to third base. Marte worked another walk in the inning to load up the bases for Lindor.

Wandy Peralta checked into the game to face Lindor with two outs. In the last series, Marte had walked it off with a base hit against Peralta at Citi Field. But, Lindor wasn’t able to get a good piece and flew out to end the ballgame.

Player of the Game: Jeff McNeil

McNeil continued his strong month of August by picking up a pair of hits and an RBI. He also squared the ball up in his last at-bat, but it was caught deep into the outfield. He has his batting average back up to over .320. His final line, 2-4, 1 RBI with an extra-base hit.

On Deck

The Mets will have an off day on Wednesday, before returning to Citi Field for a 10-game home stand. In their 10-game road trip that started in Atlanta and ended in the Bronx, the Mets went 4-6. They’ll look to get back on track against the Rockies on Thursday night with Jacob deGrom on the mound.