One night after dropping the Subway Series opener and losing Clay Holmes to a fractured fibula, the New York Metsresponded with the kind of gritty win that has been missing for much of this season.
Behind timely hitting from Mark Vientos and a clutch escape act from former Yankee Luke Weaver, the Mets knocked off the New York Yankees 6-3 Saturday night at Citi Field, evening the Subway Series at one game apiece.
The Mets improved to 19-26 on the season and continued a recent stretch of better baseball, now winning four of their last five games. More importantly, they showed resilience after Friday’s emotionally draining loss and Holmes’ devastating injury.
The offense took advantage of Yankees starter Carlos Rodón early, capitalizing on shaky command and defensive miscues. In the third inning, rookie outfielder Carson Benge doubled before Bo Bichette and Juan Soto worked walks to load the bases. Rodón then uncorked a wild pitch high over catcher Austin Wells’ head, allowing Benge to score while Bichette aggressively raced home from second on Rodón’s errant throw to the backstop, giving the Mets a 2-1 lead.
The Mets never gave it back.
Brett Baty added an RBI double in the fourth before Vientos delivered the game’s biggest hit in the fifth, ripping a two-run double to left center that stretched the lead to 5-2. Vientos finished the night with three RBIs, continuing what has quietly become one of the stronger offensive stretches of his season.
Benge also continued his recent emergence, going 3-for-4 while scoring twice. The young outfielder has now become a noticeable spark in the Mets lineup during this recent stretch of improved play.
Manager Carlos Mendoza pieced the game together creatively on the mound after using opener Huascar Brazobán for the first inning before turning things over to David Peterson, who struck out a season-high eight batters across four innings of relief to earn the win.
Still, the game nearly slipped away in the seventh.
Leading 5-2, the Mets watched the Yankees load the bases with nobody out after Benge dropped a drifting fly ball from Cody Bellinger in right field, allowing Aaron Judge to score. With Citi Field suddenly tense and momentum shifting toward the Bronx Bombers, Mendoza handed the ball to Weaver.
The former Yankee delivered the defining moment of the night.
Weaver struck out Amed Rosario and Trent Grisham before forcing Anthony Volpe into an inning-ending groundout, stranding the bases loaded and preserving the lead. He followed with a clean eighth inning, drawing one of the loudest ovations of the night from the Queens crowd.
Former Yankees closer Devin Williams then slammed the door with a perfect ninth inning for his sixth save.
The Yankees, meanwhile, wasted opportunities all night, going just 3-for-15 with runners in scoring position and leaving 11 men on base. Despite strong efforts from Judge, Paul Goldschmidt, and Jazz Chisholm Jr., New York could not recover from its sloppy middle innings and missed chances late.
For one night at least, the Mets looked like a team capable of responding to adversity instead of folding beneath it.
