Eduardo Escobar crossed the plate and skipped joyfully back to the Mets dugout after his tiebreaking, two-run homer capped a four-run, first-inning rally — a drive a fan behind the left-field fence caught one-handed with a leap.
Most of Citi Field was dancing by the time Edwin Diaz struck out Gleyber Torres with two on, ending the Mets’ 6-3 win over the Yankees in Tuesday night’s rare Subway Series matchup of first-place teams.
“It was honestly like a World Series home run,” Escobar said through a translator. “I’ve never played in an environment like that.”
Photo: AFP
Aaron Judge and Anthony Rizzo quieted many of the 42,364 fans with opposite-field home runs on consecutive first-inning pitches from Taijuan Walker (8-2), but the Mets stormed right back in the bottom half when Starling Marte homered with one out against Jordan Montgomery (3-3).
Francisco Lindor and Pete Alonso followed with back-to-back doubles, and Escobar’s two-run, two-out homer put the Mets ahead 4-2. The ball was caught barehanded by a fan in a Mets jersey and Yankees hat.
The Mets held on for a victory before just their third home sellout this year, in what they hoped was a rehearsal for the World Series.
“If we’re playing against each other in November, that would be awesome,” Alonso said before the game. “If that happens, the city will just be on fire.”
Two of baseball’s big boppers went head to head. Judge’s MLB-high 38th home run gave him 82 RBIs, tying for the big league lead. Alonso surged back ahead with his 83rd in the bottom half and went three for three with a walk.
Walker improved to 5-0 in his last eight starts, allowing three runs and seven hits in six innings.
“It was electric,” he said.
Montgomery, 0-2 in his last seven starts, allowed five runs — four earned — and five hits. He needed 71 pitches for seven outs, and when Boone came to the mound to remove him, he stared at his manager and said: “Why?”
“I wanted to be out there,” Montgomery said. “Obviously, I needed to be pulled.”
The Yankees went 0 for 6 with runners in scoring position and hurt themselves when Isiah Kiner-Falefa was picked off in the third and Rizzo was caught at second on an attempted double steal in the seventh.
After former Met and Yankee Darryl Strawberry threw out a ceremonial first pitch, Judge and Rizzo combined for the Yankees’ 14th back-to-back homers. They tied the team record set in 2009, and Rizzo ended a 14-game homerless streak with his 23rd this season.
Walker had not previously allowed a home run at Citi Field this year
The Mets opened a 5-2 lead in the third when third baseman Josh Donaldson hit Lindor with a throw near first base, and the ball caromed into right field as Marte scored from second.
DJ LeMahieu had an RBI grounder in the fourth, when Rizzo stranded the bases loaded with a flyout to Brandon Nimmo a step in front of the center field wall.
Jeff McNeil ended an 0-for-19 rut with a run-scoring single off Albert Abreu in the eighth.
After Adam Ottavino got five outs, Diaz struck out pinch-hitter Joey Gallo to strand a runner in the eighth, then fanned LeMahieu, Rizzo and Torres around a hit and an error in the ninth, getting his 22nd save in 25 chances.
“I’ve never played in a Major League playoff game before, but if I had to guess, that’s what it would be like,” Alonso said. “Looking to change that this year.”
Four-time NBA all-star DeMarcus Cousins arrived in Taiwan with his family early yesterday to finish his renewed contract with the Taiwan Beer Leopards in the T1 League. Cousins initially played a four-game contract with the Leopards in January. On March 18, the Taoyuan-based team announced that Cousins had renewed his contract. “Hi what’s up Leopard fans, I’m back. I’m excited to be back and can’t wait to join the team,” Cousins said in a video posted on the Leopard’s Facebook page. “Most of all, can’t wait to see you guys, the fans, next weekend. So make sure you come out and support the Beer
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was