Fool me once, shame on me. Fool me twice, shame on you.
The Yankees barely withstood an error by Ramiro Pena in the ninth inning. They weren’t so lucky in the 10th. Pena booted a two-out groundball to short from Daniel Murphy, which gave Jason Bay a chance to walk it off two pitches later. The Mets salvaged the final game of the series, winning 3-2.
The good news – Derek Jeter is expected back at shortstop tomorrow.
It was a stunning come-from-behind victory for a Mets team that looked crushed just one inning earlier when Mariano Rivera stood on the mound.
Rivera earned his 12th All-Star nomination before Sunday’s game. The Mets, they didn’t particularly care.
With a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the ninth – and two outs – the Mets rallied to tie the game and force extra innings.
In the ninth, Jason Bay came to the plate with two outs and earned a walk. Lucas Duda followed with a protypical broken-bat blooper off Rivera. Terry Collins pinch hit Ronny Paulino for Josh Thole and his single through the right side earned Rivera a blown save. The next batter, Ruben Tejada, hit what looked like an easy groundball to short which Ramiro Pena let go through his legs. Brett Gardner saved Pena from infamy by cutting down Duda at the plate.
In the 10th, Scott Hairston scored on Bay’s single after the second error from Pena. Hector Noesi allowed the single, though he entered with the bases loaded thanks to a walk and a hit-by-pitch from Luis Ayala. Boone Logan, who relieved Ayala, was on the mound when Pena made the second error. Ayala earned the loss.
Before Rivera’s unraveling, Freddy Garcia went seven innings and allowed one earned run. After allowing back-to-back hits in the first by Carlos Beltran and Daniel Murphy – which gave the Mets their first lead of the series – Garcia settled in. He pitched six scoreless innings, including eight straight outs in the 4th, 5th and 6th.
The Yankees tied the game in the 5th on a single by Nick Swisher that scored Robinson Cano from second. It wouldn’t be until the 8th that the tie was broken.
Brett Gardner led off with a triple down the right field line and a sac fly by Curtis Granderson put the Yanks ahead. David Robertson pitched a scoreless eighth before Rivera melted down with two outs in the ninth.
R.A. Dickey started for the Mets and by the end of the day could be added to the list of injured Mets players. Dickey was pinch hit for in the bottom of the 5th after he appeared to tell manager Terry Collins in the dugout he couldn’t go back out for the 6th. The Mets said Dickey came out with tightness in his left glute.
Dickey had been pitching a no-hitter before Cano’s double in the 5th.
Dickey can be added to injury limbo with Jose Reyes, who left the game yesterday with a strain left hamstring. He had an MRI this morning and the Mets said it was a Grade 1 strain (the least serious). He is listed as day-to-day.
The Yankees took the Subway Series 4-2 this year and had a 13-5 interleague record. They head back to the AL with a series against Cleveland beginning tomorrow. The Mets head to the West Coast to face the Dodgers in a four-game set.
All-Star selections
MLB announced the All-Star selections today for next Tuesday’s game in Arizona. The Yankees had four players voted in as starters – Robinson Cano (2B), Derek Jeter (SS), Alex Rodriguez (SS) and Granderson (OF). Rivera will be in the pen and Russell Martin (C) was named as a reserve. Noticeably absent was CC Sabathia, who is tied for the lead in wins in the AL with 11. He is sixth in strikeouts and third in innings pitched. Robertson, who had a 1.08 ERA and 53 strikeouts in 33.1 IP going into today, was also left out. Aaron Crow (KC) was the only setup man named to the roster and he is the Royals’ only representative.
The Mets’ only starter will be Reyes, who won the fan vote at shortstop. Carlos Beltran was named as a reserve.
Jose Bautista, the Blue Jays outfielder, received the most votes of any player. He leads the majors with 27 home runs – one in three straight games – and a .471 on-base percentage.
