The subway will pull into Citi Field Tuesday and Wednesday as the New York Mets and New York Yankees prepare to face each other in round two of the 2019 Subway Series. The two teams split a doubleheader at Yankee Stadium in their first meeting on June 11.

The upcoming pair of games will mark the 45th series between the intercity rivals dating back to June 16-18 1997. The Mets are 50-70 against the Yankees all-time during the regular season with a rather poor 9-17 record at Citi Field. The Mets were 17-16 against the Yanks at Shea Stadium. And speaking of Citi Field, the Mets’ latest home opened in March of 2009, so this will be the 10th anniversary of the Subway Series being played at the new park.

The Mets lost all three games they played against the Bombers in 2009 at Citi Field. The first victory didn’t come until May 22, 2010 when Mike Pelfrey out-pitched Phil Hughes in a 5-3 Mets win.

Though the Mets (38-47) defeated the Atlanta Braves on Sunday, 8-5, the team has been struggling. Losers of seven of their last eight, the Mets have been let down by a faulty bullpen that has blown 21 saves, by far the most in the Majors. Since May 25, the Met bullpen has a 7.64 ERA having given up at least one run in 19 of 21 games. That seven plus ERA figure is the highest ever in a calendar month in Mets franchise history. Overall, Mets’ relievers combined 5.65 ERA ranks 28th in the majors and 14th in the National League.

For the Mets, the Yankee series will be the fourth inter-league match-up of the year so far in 2019. They split two games against the Minnesota Twins on April 9-10 at Citi Field. In May, the Mets took two out of three from the Detroit Tigers also at home. And they split the two games with the Yankees in mid-June. They do not play another American League team until July 16-17 when they venture to Target Field to play the Twins again.

The Yankees are probably as hot as any team in baseball. Since June 15, the Bombers have won 13 of 14 games and come home from their jaunt to London with a record of 54-28 which is the second best record in baseball behind only the Dodgers. They lead the AL East by 6.5 games over Tampa Bay and 11 over the defending World Series Champion Boston Red Sox.

In London, they scored 29 runs in a two game sweep of Boston. In their current 13-1 streak, they have scored 115 runs which averages to 8.2 runs per game.

The Yankees have accomplished their strong first half despite key injuries. Miguel Andujar is out  for the season, Luis Severino, the staff ace, has not thrown a pitch this season, and Dellin Betances also has not seen any action in 2019. Aaron Judge missed 53 games and Giancarlo Stanton has sat out 69 contests and counting due to his fourth different injury of the year. There have been many more Yankees on the IL throughout the year.

The Bombers lead the American League in team batting having scored 476 runs in 82 games, an average of nearly six runs per game. Their team batting average is .267 and they carry a strong .808 OPS. They have a +105 run differential which is second in the AL. DJ LeMahieu leads the Yankees (and the American League) in BA, hitting .345. He also leads his team in RBIs (61, good for second in the AL), and runs scored with 62. Gary Sanchez leads the Yanks with 23 home runs, second in the AL behind his new team mate, Edwin Encarnacion. Both LeMahieu and Sanchez will represent the Yankees in the All-Star game in Cleveland on July 9.

As far as team pitching, the Yankees rank sixth in the league with 4.24 team ERA. Their BAA is .247. Domingo German, who will be coming off the IL to probably face the Mets on Wednesday, leads his team with wins with nine. Masahiro Tanaka leads the team with a 3.74 ERA, in strikeouts with 85 and his 1.18 WHIP also is tops on the Yanks. Closer Aroldis Chapman is tied for the AL lead in saves with 23. Chapman will be the third Yankee representative at the All-Star game.

Surprisingly, the Yankees are 14th in the AL in team defense, They have committed 64 errors this season. Only the Seattle Mariners have committed more. The Yanks have a .978 fielding percentage.

The Yankees are managed by Aaron Boone. He was hired by the team on December 4, 2017.  He led the Yankees to an impressive 100-62 mark in 2018 making the playoffs in his first year. The 46 year-old played for six teams and was an All-Star once in 2003 when he played for the Yankees.  Boone and Mets manager Mickey Callaway are both second-year skippers and will be competing in the Subway Series against each other for the second year. The two managers have split the eight games played between the teams.

The Mets, like the Yankees, will be sending three players to the All-Star game. Rookie-of -the Year candidate (and perhaps current favorite) Pete Alonso, NL batting leader Jeff McNeil and reigning Cy Young Award winner Jacob deGrom will represent the Amazins.

Despite recent hard-times, the embattled Mickey Callaway has managed to put on a brave face. He told Deesha Thosar of the Daily News,  “I think we can [contend]…there are a ton of games left. You see it every year, someone comes out of nowhere. We’ve put ourselves in a very difficult position, but the bottom line is we can’t give up. Hopefully we’ll get to our goal.” Achieving that goal will resume on Tuesday against one of the top teams in baseball.

Tuesday, July 2: RHP Zack Wheeler vs LHP James Paxton  7:10 PM

2019 Stats: Wheeler 6-5 record, 4.51 ERA (3.76 FIP), 1.263 WHIP, 9.6 K/9, 2.6 BB/9; Paxton 5-3 record, 4.34 ERA (3.85 FIP), 1.430 WHIP, 11.3 K/9, 3.9 BB/9

James Paxton, 30, will be making his 14th start of the year on Tuesday. In his last start against Toronto, he gave up six runs on eight hits raising his ERA about a half a run a game. He has pitched to a 6.08 ERA in six starts since returning from the IL on May 29.

Paxton faced the Mets in the second game of the doubleheader on June 11 and was strafed by the Mets giving up six runs on seven hits in 2 2/3 innings. Pete Alonso hit a 3-run home run against Paxton, one of many Mets who hit the Yankee hurler hard in his brief stint.

Zack Wheeler will be making his 18th start of the year against the Yankees. He is coming off two excellent outings allowing only one earned run against the Chicago Cubs and the Philadelphia Phillies. But Wheeler has had his problems with the Yankees. In only two starts, he’s 0-1 allowing 10 runs on 17 hits which translates to a 10.00 ERA. He was charged with the loss in the first game of the DH against the Yanks this year.

Gio Urshela and Luke Voit both have homered against Zack, while Brett Gardner is four for six lifetime against the Mets’ right-hander.

Wednesday, July 3: LHP Jason Vargas vs RHP Domingo German  7:10 PM

2019 Stats: Vargas 3-3 record, 3.66 ERA (4.36 FIP), 1.281 WHIP, 7.7 K/9, 3.8 BB/9; German 9-2 record, 3.86 ERA (4.08 FIP), 1.114 WHIP, 9.9 K/9, 2.4 BB/9

Jason Vargas has pitched very well for the Mets, especially over his last 11 starts. In those starts, he has three or fewer runs and has pitched to a 2.55 ERA. Despite his excellence, the Mets are only 6-5 in those 11 games.

Vargas got the win in the second game of the doubleheader against the Yanks holding their powerful offense to just three runs in six innings. It was his first win in 11 starts against the Bombers.

The Yankees are not entirely certain who will pitch for them on Wednesday. It will either be Domingo German or J.A. Happ. Mark Fischer of the New York Post reported on June 28 that German will indeed make the start.

German had a 2.60 ERA and 0.98 WHIP through his first 10 starts of the year, but he gave up 14 runs over his last three starts while laboring through the hip strain that landed him on the injured list June 9. Despite missing nearly a month, German still leads the Yankees in wins with nine.

German pitched in a rehab game with Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre on Thursday, allowing four runs on four hits over four innings, including two 2-run homers. However, Yankee management saw enough positives in that start to allow him to be brought back to the Majors.

Prediction: These Subway Series games rarely go as scripted. By all rights, the Yankees, who have lost but one game in the last two weeks, should sweep the Mets away. But sweeps seldom occur in the match-up of inter-borough rivals. Although it is a little concerning that the Yanks have an excellent record at Citi Field, the Mets may have put away a ghost or two in their Atlanta win. Paxton certainly shouldn’t scare anyone on the Mets, and if German pitches, he’ll be making his first start in nearly a month.

Sprinkle in a little London jet lag and you have the makings of a team that might be ready to lose a game here. So the pick here is for a split of the two games and a fervent hope the Mets gain some positives against the Yanks as they prepare for their division foes, the Phillies, later in the week.