The first Subway Series game of the season belonged to the New York Yankees, who walked into Citi Field Friday night and handed the New York Mets a 5-2 loss behind strong pitching and timely hitting.
The Mets entered the matchup riding a three-game winning streak after sweeping Detroit, but that momentum disappeared quickly against Yankees starter Cam Schlittler, who looked completely comfortable under the bright lights of his first Subway Series appearance. The right hander limited the Mets to just one run on two hits over 6.2 innings while striking out nine.
For most of the night, the Mets offense had no answers.
The Yankees broke through in the third inning when RBI doubles from Cody Bellinger and Jazz Chisholm Jr. opened the scoring before Spencer Jones added an RBI single in the fifth to extend the lead. Chisholm and Ben Rice each collected three hits, with Rice later crushing his 14th home run of the season in the ninth inning to add insurance.
The biggest blow for the Mets may have come on the mound.
Starter Clay Holmes suffered a fractured right fibula after taking a 111 mph comebacker off the bat of Spencer Jones in the fourth inning. Remarkably, Holmes attempted to continue pitching before eventually exiting in the fifth. Mets manager Carlos Mendoza later confirmed the severity of the injury, acknowledging the team will be without one of its most reliable arms for an extended stretch.
“Every team is going to deal with adversity,” Mendoza said afterward. “We have got to keep going.”
One of the few bright spots for the Mets came from Juan Soto, who launched the 250th home run of his career in the seventh inning, briefly giving the Citi Field crowd life. Brett Baty added an RBI single in the ninth, but the late rally fell short as Yankees relievers Fernando Cruz and David Bednar shut the door.
The loss snapped the Mets’ three-game winning streak and immediately shifted the tone around Queens entering the remainder of the Subway Series. Meanwhile, the Yankees, who had struggled themselves coming into the matchup, suddenly looked energized under the October-like atmosphere that only this rivalry can create.
