By Brendan Kuty, Chris Kirschner and Will Sammon
NEW YORK — At the start of the Subway Series, the Yankees and the Mets were teams still trying to figure out identities.
When they left, they seemed no closer to finding themselves — and despite the Yankees’ better record, the Best Team New York title may be a long way off.
The Mets clinched a walk-off win 4-3 in 10 innings in Game 2 at Citi Field on Wednesday. This came after the Yankees defeated the Mets 7-6 Tuesday night from a deficit.
Here are the nine most revealing things that happened in the first part of the Subway series:
Nimmo’s Redemption
Brandon Nimmo had never faced Nick Ramirez before, so he wasn’t looking for anything special except a little over the middle of the plate. He also didn’t realize how superficially the Yankees outfield positioned themselves against him. When he hit the plate with an out in the 10th inning, Nimmo had other things on his mind.
At the Mets clubhouse, Nimmo told his teammates that as he walked to the plate, he thought to himself, “All right. This is a great opportunity to get us back on our feet after what I did last night.”
In Tuesday night’s Mets loss, Nimmo failed to catch a flyball. Afterwards he felt terrible. He thought he had let the team down.
So it’s easy to see why Nimmo saw his 10th-inning hit as an opportunity to make amends. On the second pitch, he hit a double off the right field wall to hit Eduardo Escobar from second base and earn the win the Mets desperately needed.
The Mets lost nine of their last ten games on Wednesday. Their record of 32-36 reflects their poor play. Things were going poorly again with mental blunders, mistakes and unlucky plays until Nimmo scored.
In the seventh inning, Nimmo attempted to move from first to third with a hit from Starling Marte. It did not work. Mark Vientos, the runner ahead of Nimmo, didn’t run home. Third base coach Joey Cora didn’t tell him that. After touching third base, Vientos turned the corner but pulled back. Before the game, Nimmo planned to capture multiple bases on a hit. As an outfielder, he assumed that a perfect throw would be necessary in a pressure situation. He wanted to at least hit the pitch to see if the infielder would make an out and give up a run. Vientos, holding, surprised Nimmo, who was caught going too far toward third base. Nimmo attempted to return to second base but was substituted off. – Sammon
Mets hit with more goo, but bullpen holds it together
Another Mets pitcher was sent off for sticky stuff. Following Max Scherzer’s suspension earlier this season, substitute Drew Smith was sent off on Tuesday because referees deemed his hands too sticky. They’re the only two-player team affected by the suspension — they’ve also had two other incidents in the Triple A. Mets manager Buck Showalter said Wednesday, “I look in the mirror and I’m like, ‘Okay, let’s do something wrong?'” Do we have to fix that?'” He added that he hasn’t discovered anything wrong with the Mets’ processes.
The Mets will operate with just 12 pitchers for the next nine games after Smith began his 10-game suspension for sticky stuff on Wednesday. Tylor Megill was considered an option for the Mets’ bullpen Wednesday, but they never needed him. Megill will start on Friday as originally planned. Jeff Brigham, Brooks Raley, Adam Ottavino, David Robertson and Dominic Leone solidly covered four innings. The Mets’ bullpen was already lacking in depth and has been taxed so far this season from early and frequent use because the starters didn’t pitch past the fifth inning. Now they are tested further. They passed on the first day. – Sammon
McNeil’s shift breach
As soon as Jeff McNeil reached his locker after the game, he pulled out his phone and looked up the language for the shift violation rule.
To stem the speedy Anthony Volpe at second base in the eighth inning, McNeil put one foot on the side of the shortstop and straddled the bag. He said he moved in time. But the referee called him for a shift violation. A shot became the ball for Giancarlo Stanton, but Ottavino pulled it back anyway and threw a goalless frame. Part of the rule reads, “The four infielders must be within the boundaries of the infield when the pitcher is on the surface.”
“From what I just read in the rule, it wasn’t a violation,” McNeil said.
McNeil said enforcement of the rule was “ticky-tack” because his intent had nothing to do with hitting the batter and catching a batted ball; He focused on keeping the runner close.
The Mets became only the second team in MLB to be called out for a shift violation. – Sammon
Kiner-Falefa sneaks home
With Aaron Judge out indefinitely, the Yankees need to get better at their runs. Isiah Kiner-Falefa did just that in the seventh inning Wednesday night, giving the Yankees a 3-1 lead.
After reaching first base at the request of a skater, Kiner-Falefa stole second base and advanced to third base due to a throwing error by catcher Francisco Alvarez. Kiner-Falefa then took a wide lead from third place, with Escobar playing well from the sack and Brooks substituting Raley in the closing stages rather than overtime. Before Raley threw the ball home, Kiner-Falefa was already halfway. It was the Yankees’ first home steal since Didi Gregorius in 2016.
“What a cool bit of witnessing,” said Gerrit Cole. “Gosh. I don’t think I’ve ever seen one.”
Kiner-Falefa said it was the first time in his life that he managed to steal home. He tried in high school and minors, but could never make it at the right time. – Kirschner
Hal Steinbrenner speaks
Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner rarely speaks to the media, but did answer questions at MLB owners’ meetings on Tuesday.
Steinbrenner’s biggest takeaway was that he’s open to adding to the payroll at the close if that means helping the Yankees achieve their goal of winning a World Series. That’s important because the Yankees have been struggling with the fourth luxury tax threshold and have acted all season as a team unwilling to cross that line and incur the harsh penalties. There are several gaps that the Yankees can improve through trades, such as adding a left-handed impact outfield hitter, another reliever, and possibly a starting pitcher. – Kirschner
The Mets’ mistakes
In addition to the baserunning problem with Nimmo and the McNeil violation, the Mets committed two errors and allowed the home robbery. Good teams avoid that. That can’t happen. And it’s not the first time the Mets have been plagued by problems like this.
In the seventh inning, McNeil made a mistake on a throw to first base. First baseman Vientos should have blocked the ball to keep it in front of him, but McNeil probably shouldn’t have thrown the ball in the first place; There wasn’t a good chance of finishing the play. A run was scored when Kiner-Falefa reached first base. He then attempted to steal second base. To knock him out, Alvarez made a throwing error that allowed Kiner-Falefa to advance to third base. With Brooks Raley on the hill, he then stole his way home. Raley said he saw Kiner-Falefa take off from his peripheral vision, but the left-hander never heard anyone alert him that the runner was moving.
“You don’t want them to happen,” Showalter said. “I think sometimes guys try so hard to find a way to contribute. At the same time, some mistakes were made as a result. I don’t ignore such things. I know how much they care. Those are things we’re going to talk about before the next game, like we always do.” — Sammon
Verlander is recovering
Getting off to a good start after a nightmarish game against the Braves, Justin Verlander beat the Yankees over six innings. Last week he vowed to make things right. He did just that – he made his fastball and slider work effectively. Verlander allowed just one earned run and three hits with six strikeouts. Especially after Max Scherzer’s poor start on Tuesday, the Mets needed their other co-ace to step up. – Sammon
Volpe shows life
Demands for the Yankees to demote Volpe to Triple A may have been premature. The rookie shortstop averaged 3-of-8 (.375) with all his hits in doubles and one RBI during the series. On Tuesday, manager Aaron Boone answered several questions about the seemingly secure job status of Volpe, her 22-year-old former top contestant. Boone’s defense of Volpe was simple.
“He’s learning to navigate at the big league level so there will be gaps along the way,” he said.
But Volpe wasn’t treating his situation as if the status quo was enough. During a trip back to his family’s home in New Jersey on Monday, a day off, he caught up with some of his former minor league teammates. They recognized that Volpe could benefit from closing his stance and he implemented it on Tuesday.
The totals might still be ugly for Volpe: a .192 batting average, a team max of 78 strikeouts, and a baseline percentage of .264. But he’s making progress. — Kuty
RISP issues
The Yankees only managed 1:15 in Game 2, with runners holding the points position.
“The more we can get into that position,” said first baseman Anthony Rizzo, “the better off we’re going to be in the long run. We just have to keep putting the guys in that position and keep shooting.”
It also didn’t help that the Yankees were almost unfazed by the big names at the top of their lineup. Giancarlo Stanton hit a home run on Tuesday but took a 4-0 lead with two strikeouts on Wednesday. DJ LeMahieu hit a home run on Tuesday but only managed a 4-1 on Wednesday. Josh Donaldson went clean in four at-bats with a walk on Wednesday. And Rizzo? On Tuesday he managed a 0:24 series with a single goal, but on Wednesday it went 0:3. — Kuty
(Photo of the Mets congratulating teammate Brandon Nimmo on his game-winning RBI double in the 10th inning Wednesday, which he used to defeat the Yankees Credit: Gregory Fisher/Icon Sportswire via Associated Press)