Last night in the Bronx, the Mets continued to dominate the Subway Series with a tense 3 to 2 win over the Yanks.
Lots of drama on this night as a Jeff McNeil 2 run homer spelled the difference in this contest. But strategy played a big role as well as the Mets decided they would pitch around Aaron Judge walking him 4 times disarming his power bat. But in the ninth inning they had to pitch to him and without Edwin Diaz whom Met manager Carlos Mendoza did not want to overwork after he got the save in a long ninth inning in Miami on Monday night.
So they turned to Jake Diekman who has had a rough season out of the pen this year. With one on and one out. he struck out Judge saving the contest for Jose Quintana who gave the team 5 solid innings to earn the win. In many ways, this game illustrated how much the Met manager believes in his players as both McNeil and Diekman put the season struggles way in the rear view mirror because of the confidence the skipper has for them.
Some little known facts about the Subway Series–The Yanks have not taken a season series from Mets since 2017 and not once in Aaron Boone era. And without Kodai Senga, this Met rotation has received solid seasons from their other starters keeping the team in games giving this offense a chance to percolate .
The Mets have not lost a road series in nearly 2 months and right now sit in ownership of that third wild card spot–just half a game out of that second wild card spot and a mere two and half games from that first wild card spot. Their lineup is as good as anyone in baseball and far deeper than the Yankee lineup.
Funny thing–Luis Severino’s comments that this Yankee only had 2 hitters was taken as an insult by the Yankees. But it really should have been a reality check for them. And that reality was illustrated last night as they pitched around Judge most of the night until they attacked him. The Met game plan might be one other teams may employ as the season marches on.