Victory over Yanks is extra-special for Amazin’s
METS 9
YANKEES 7
It wouldn’t be a Subway Series finale — or a fitting tribute to Tom Seaver — without a little drama.
In the Mets and Yankees final meeting of the season, the crosstown rivals went to extra innings after Aroldis Chapman blew the save in the ninth at a rainy and sloppy Citi Field. Chapman’s unexceptional outing allowed Pete Alonso to come up to the plate and show off in a vintage fashion.
Alonso, who entered his 10thinning at-bat in a 4-for-42 slide, whacked a bullet into the left field seats on the second pitch he saw from Albert Abreu. The two-run shot gave the Mets a 9-7 win against the Yankees. The Mets stormed out of the dugout and jumped on their first baseman in a frenzy of a celebration at home plate.
“It’s really extremely special,” Alonso said. “It doesn’t matter what happens. You just have to stay resilient and keep fighting and give your best effort each AB, each inning, each pitch. I’m just happy I capitalized on a great opportunity and sent us home.”
Alonso’s blast landed near the strikeout board behind the leftfield foul pole, which the Mets replaced Thursday with an inmemoriam graphic for Tom Seaver. The Mets honored Seaver by rubbing dirt on their knees and tipping their caps to his No. 41, which hangs in the upper deck in left field. Seaver died Wednesday at age 75.
“He’s an absolute legend,” Alonso said of Seaver. “And now, he’s a baseball god … I feel like he’s smiling down on us today and it’s extremely special.”
JD Davis smacked a solo shot to center off Chapman to tie the
game at 7-7 in the ninth. Michael Con for to followed up by tap ping a single through to left field. Todd Frazier, who was 2-for-3 entering his ninth-inning at-bat, struck out swinging, which brought Dominic Smith up. But Smith struck out against Chapman to send the game to extras.
Edwin Diaz, routinely inconsistent, was dominant against the Yankees. He compiled scoreless innings in then int hand 10 th with four strikeouts and one walk to keep the Mets in the game.
The Yankees’ J.A. Happ hurled five innings against the Mets in his fifth start of the year. He was strong until the fourth inning, when the Mets rallied to score three runs off the southpaw and tie the game, before coming back out for the fifth and retiring the side. Hesurrendered four runs on eight hits with four strikeouts, including two against Alonso, on 93 pitches. Frazier took Happ deep for a solo shot in the second inning.
“Tough one to lose,” Yankee manager Aaron Boone said. “(We) did a lot of good things today coming off a tough loss. We gotta turn the page real quick because we have an important day in front of us tomorrow,” he said, referring to Friday’s doubleheader in Baltimore.