The New York Mets snapped a two-game losing streak, defeating the New York Yankees in the opening game of the Subway Series by an 8-3 score at Yankee Stadium.
Taijuan Walker pitched 5 1/3 no-hit innings and Brandon Nimmo had three hits in his return from the injured list as the Mets improve to 42-36, maintaining their lead in the NL East.
Aaron Judge homered as the Yankees (41-40) fell to 9.5 games behind Boston in the American League East. Jordan Montogmery took the loss, going 4 1/3 innings, giving up
Mets take Subway Series opener behind Walker gem, 14 hits from offense
And for the first four innings, the teams played about as evenly as their records would suggest. While the Mets got a few men on base in the first, Nimmo singling and a Francisco Lindor walk, neither team were able to do much against the other’s starting pitcher early on.
Montgomery (3-3) allowed a baserunner in all of his innings, save the fourth, but managed to get out of trouble until the fifth inning. Jose Peraza led off the with a fly out to center, but Nimmo, Lindor and Dominic Smith hit three straight singles, with Smith’s hit plating Nimmo with the game’s first run. A walk to Pete Alonso chased Montgomery from the game, prompting Yankees manager Aaron Boone to bring in Lucas Luetge.
The first batter was James McCann who smacked a single to center, scoring Lindor. After Michael Conforto flew out, Luetge uncorked a wild pitch, as Smith crossed the plate to make it 3-0 Mets.
On the other side of the diamond, Walker (7-3) continued his excellent first half with a dominant performance. Walks to Gleyber Torres in the second and DJ Lemahieu in the third were the only baserunners he allowed through the first five innings.
Former Met Justin Wilson relieved Luetge as the sixth inning got underway. Jeff McNeil, Peraza, and Nimmo all singled to load the bases with no outs. A walk to Lindor made it 4-0, Smith stroked an opposite field double, plating Peraza and Nimmo to increase the lead to 6-0 and knock Wilson out of the game.
Michael King then came on entered the game and gave up two more runs on a single by Kevin Pillar, putting the Mets up 8-0, both runs charged to Wilson, who didn't record an out from the five batters he faced.
Walker still had a no-hitter going, but was only likely to pitch one more inning due to a high pitch count. Judge got the Yankees' first hit with an opposite field home run, breaking up the no-hitter and shutout. After giving up a single to Giancarlo Stanton, Walker was lifted from the game.
Miguel Castro came out of the Mets bullpen and hit the first batter he faced, which was Luke Voit. Torres walked, Gio Urshela singled home Stanton and Voit to make it 8-3 and Mets manager Luis Rojas pulled Castro in favor of Jeurys Familia, who struck out Miguel Andujar to end the inning.
The rest of the game was a battle of effective bullpens. Familia and Drew Smith combined for three and a third innings of perfect relief with five strikeouts between them. King dominated, striking out nine over four innings, but it wasn't enough as the Mets drew first blood in the annual city rivalry.
Twinbill to close out first installment of Subway Series
Sunday sees the Mets and Yankees play a split doubleheader at Yankee Stadium. Marcus Stroman will face Gerrit Cole in the opener, which is scheduled for 2:05 Nestor Cortes starts the nightcap for the Yankees. The Mets will announce their starter after the first game ends. Game Two is scheduled to begin at 7:08.