Mets Bomb Cole; Yanks Come Back from 9-1 Deficit. Mets 9 Yanks 7

June 26, 2024 paperbacklou 2024 0

The Mets hit 4 homers off Gerrit Cole in the first 4 innings, taking a 6-0 lead that they increased to 9-1 off the Yankee pen and another key error by Gleyber Torres. The Yankees came back on a Grand Slam by Aaron Judge in the 8th — but fell short, 9-7, on a hot June Tuesday night at Citifield in Queens.

Afterwards, Cole said he didn’t have command on his fastball but felt fine so that was the good news. This was his 2nd start of the season; he is still getting the rust off.

There was alarm by Yankee fans and media during the game, as Cole threw 98 MPH on his four-seam fastball in the 1st inning, but only maxed it at 94 MPH in the 3rd and 4th innings.

“I feel really good physically,” said Cole afterwards. “Disappointing I didn’t give us a good chance to win tonite. Didn’t execute enough pitches. Just kind of dug us a hole.”

“Not great command in it (the fastball) throughout the evening; trying to find a blend of intensity and command — trying to put it where we want, both inside the strike zone and out,” added Cole.

“It’s a bit like driving a car — too much clutch or too little clutch can slip you out of gear a bit. It came out really tremendous in the first, but I had to make a lot of pitches — and the reality is we weren’t in the strike zone enough and it cost us 28 pitches. The two fastballs that left the park (in the 4th inning) were supposed to be down and away and they weren’t.”

The Yankees fall to 52-29, but are still 2 games in 1st over Baltimore, which lost again — their 5th loss in a row. The Mets improve to 38-39. The Mets are 14-4 in their last 18 games.

1. Yanks Waste Bases Loaded in 1st

The Mets started 6’6 lefty David Peterson, who got off to a bad start in the top of the 1st — allowing a single to Anthony Volpe, and walking Juan Soto and Aaron Judge to load the bases with nobody out.

But he struck out the next 3 batters — Gleyber Torres, Alex Verdugo, and new Yankee and former Met J.D. Davis, to end the inning.

2. Cole’s Fastball Not Sharp

And then Gerrit Cole took the mound and had a really long 1st inning — just missing the strike zone with his four-seam fastball repeatedly, as the Mets worked long at bats on him.

He allowed a leadoff double to Francisco Lindor, and walked Brandon Nimmo, but got JD Martinez to hit into a double play putting Lindor on 3rd with 2 outs. Cole walked Pete Alonso on 6 pitches, and then could not put away Francisco Alvarez despite going 0-2 on him — Alvarez working a walk as Cole’s fastball just missed the strike zone repeatedly and the inning got loooong in the high heat.

Tyrone Taylor came up with a big 2-out RBI single to left — Alex Verdugo making a great throw home to nail the runner for the last out of the inning — saving Cole.

But the Yankees made out 1-2-3 and Cole was right back out in the heat for the 2nd — and coughed up a leadoff homer to Mark Vientos — 383 feet to left center.

A batter later, old friend Harrison Bader hit a 419-foot homer to left and it was 3-0 Mets.

Cole pitched a shutout 3rd, but in the 4th, Vientos again led off the inning with a homer — this one 385 feet to right center and it was 4-0 Mets.

Jeff McNeil followed with a single and 2 outs later, Brandon Nimmo homered to make it 6-0 Mets. Cole got the final out– to finish his planned 4-inning outing.

“I’ve never been out there trying to throw my max effort, certainly for the entirety of the game,” noted Cole when asked if he felt his velocity was where it should be in his gear-up after missing the first 2 months of the year. “Like I said, it’s just a little bit of give and take — and the reality is that give-and-take needs to get sharper.”

3. Soto HR Puts Yanks on Board in 5th

Juan Soto homered to lead off the 5th to cut the deficit to 6-1 Mets.

4. Gleyber Error Allows 3 More Runs in 6th

Phil Bickford relieved Cole and pitched a shutout 5th, but got into a pickle in the 6th — consecutive leadoff singles by McNeil and Bader put runners on 1st and 3rd, and then Bader stole 2nd to make it 2nd and 3rd nobody out.

But Bickford struck out Francisco Lindor in an 8-pitch masterpiece for the 1st out.

The Yankees brought their infield in — and Bickford got McNeil to hit a sharp grounder right to Gleyber Torres for what should have been an easy out at the plate.

But Gleyber allowed the ball to go under his glove for his league-leading 11th error at 2nd base.

JD Martinez then doubled in a run, and Pete Alonzo hit a sac fly and it was 9-1 Mets.

5. Judge RBI Double Scores Volpe; Makes It 9-3

With the game seemingly over, the Yanks got a run off Eduardo Nunez in the 7th: Anthony Volpe getting on base due to an error by Nunez, and then scoring on a 1-out double by Aaron Judge — Volpe RACING around the bases with LIGHTNING SPEED. Mets 9 Yankees 2.

6. Judge Grand Slam Makes It 9-7 in 8th

Old friend Adam Ottavino pitched the 8th for the Mets — and allowed a leadoff single to Ben Rice and 1-out walk to Trent Grisham.

Danny Young came in to pitch, and Austin Wells greeted him with a single to center for a 9-3 game.

Young struck out Volpe but walked Juan Soto to load the bases, and Aaron Judge made it a ballgame again with a GRAND SLAM 390 feet to center.

7. Gleyber Hamstring Pull

Gleyber Torres came up next after Judge’s Grand Slam, and hit a grounder that he did not run out to 1st — causing Yankee Twitter to HOWL — this after his big error in the 6th cost 3 runs.

Afterwards, Gleyber said he had pulled his hamstring a bit and that is why he did not run out the grounder.

In the 9th, the Mets brought in Reed Garrett to close, since their ace reliever Edwin Diaz was just suspended for 10 games for sticky fingers. The Yanks were down 2 runs looking for a bloop and a blast. But Garrett got lineout (of Verdugo), ground out (of Rice), and strike out (of LeMahieu) for the old ballgame.

The Boxscore

https://www.espn.com/mlb/boxscore/_/gameId/401569662

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