The New York Mets pulled off a 3-2 win in front of 47,453 faithful at Yankee stadium, securing a subway series win for 2024 and putting them in a spot to sweep on Wednesday.
Jeff McNiel hit a homer off Michael Tonkin in the 6th and that was all the Amazins needed to take another one from the Bronx Bombers.
Yankee star Aaron Judge was limited because the Mets simply chose not to pitch to him as he was walked four times. The Yankees weakness is clearly the inability to put a threat behind Judge in the lineup right now. They simply could not punish the Mets for refusing to pitch to him.
In the bottom of the ninth the Mets releiver Jake Diekman walked Juan Soto and had no choice but to go after Judge. On a 2-2 count he caught Judge looking on a fastball that just hit the corner. It was a pitch to hit for Judge, a chance to win the game in heroic fashion, but instead he went down hard, with Ben Rice grounding out to end the game in the next at-bat.
The teams face off for their final game Wednesday July 24, but the series belongs to the Mets for this year, and the Yankees are left wondering amidst their latest skid if they need to find help now at the trade deadline.
Meanwhile the Mets, who started the season very poorly, have picked it up of late and may also now be buyers themselves.