About Last Night: METS CRUSH YANKS

By Paul Semendinger

July 25, 2024

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About Last Night:

After dropping the first game of this two-game series to the Mets, the Yankees sent out the following lineup:

The new lineup did not help. The Yankees were crushed by the Mets, losing 12-3.

Quick Stats:

• Mets homers by: Tyrone Taylor, Pete Alonso, Francisco Lindor, Mark Vientos, and Francsico Lindor (again)....

• Gerrit Cole's ERA for the season is 5.40

The Big Story (The re-cap):

Like yesterday, the Yankees started the scoring on a Gleyber Torres home run. In this case, Torres did it as the leadoff hitter to give the Yankees a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning.

In the top of the second, Juan Soto went to the wall, leaped, and grabbed what might have been a game tying homer from Jeff McNeil.

In the top of the third, Tyrone Taylor launched a homer to tie the game at 1-1. Taylor was in the game because Harrison Bader is hurt. Imagine that - Harrison Bader injured.

Juan Soto then blasted a homer to dead center field to give the Yankees a 2-1 lead.

The very next inning, J.D. Martinez singled and then Pete Alonso hit a long home run to give the Mets their first lead of the game (3-2). They'd never fall behind again in the game.

In the top of the fifth, with a man on, Francisco Lindor crushed a two-run homer into the upper deck to give the Mets a 5-2 lead.

The Yankees came right back in the bottom of the fifth, loading the bases with two outs. The Mets went to Adam Ottavino to face Anthony Volpe who then grounded out to end the threat.

In the sixth, the Mets knocked out Gerrit Cole. Tyrone Taylor singled home Jeff McNeill with two outs to give the Mets a 6-2 lead.

The Yankees had runners on the corners the next inning. They didn't score.

The Mets kept scoring.

You get the idea. The Yankees lost again. They were crushed. They went 0-4 against the Mets this year.

Player of the Game:

• Tyrone Taylor: 3 for 5, 3 runs, 2 RBIs, HR. He also made a great catch in the outfield.

• Francisco Lindor hit two homers

Notable Performances:

• None. When the game mattered, none of the Yankees did what was necessary. They had three hits through seven innings. They were 0-9 with runners in scoring position to that point. It's the same old story we've been seeing for years.

Better to Forget:

• Gerrit Cole: 5.2 ip, 8 hits, 6 runs, 3 homers allowed

• Per ESPN (during the game) - the Yankees' cleanup hitters (combined) have the worst OPS in all of baseball. (That's not a "bad month" thing. That's all season.)

My Takes:

• In recent weeks, the Yankees have tried Anthony Volpe, Alex Verdugo, Ben Rice, Jahami Jones, D.J. LeMahieu, and Gleyber Torres as their leadoff hitter. They have, on their team, the current MLB leader in On Base Percentage. Weeks ago I stated that Juan Soto should be hitting leadoff. Isn't the object of the leadoff hitter to get on base? Soto gets on base better than anyone in the game today and better than only a handful of players across the entirety of baseball history. The solution to the Yankees' lineup problem is staring them right in the face. Juan Soto should be the leadoff hitter. The fact that they can't see it is troubling to me.

• I have heard some say that Juan Soto doesn't wish to bat leadoff. I don't know how true that is. If it is true, I see that as a problem. I'm probably the biggest Juan Soto fan here, but his first priority must be the team. If the manager tells him to bat leadoff, he should. He must. I happen to believe that if he's put there, he'll go out and play hard and do a great job there - just as he does wherever he bats as he's demonstrated all season long.

• The Mets' J.D. Martinez showed poor plate discipline in the first inning. Gerrit Cole threw a ton of pitches to both Francisco Lindor and Brandon Nimmo, going to full counts on both. Martinez should have also worked the count, but he swung at the first pitch and popped out to shallow right field.

• Gleyber Torres has homered in two games in a row. Might some team believe he has value and potential and spark and all of that and trade for him? His value in 2024 might not ever be higher than it is right now.

• Players in the game should never be talking to the announcers. This is one of the worst things baseball has come up with. It adds nothing, at all, to the game coverage. In fact, it distracts from the game.

• I know so many people feel that the DJ LeMahieu deal from a few years ago was so smart, "They're paying for three years over six seasons and getting great value." Great value? LeMahieu is signed for another $15 million in 2025. And $15 more million in 2026. The Yankees are paying him $15 million this season. The Yankees paid him $15 million last year to bat .243. His OPS+ since signing the contract is 96. The Yankees are paying a player who has performed below an average MLB hitter $90 million over six years with $30 more million of that yet to come (and a lot of playing time) as a player who is a shell of his former self and who gets tons of playing time. In what world was that a good deal?

• They keep talking about Soto playing with a bad hand. He crushed a homer to Monument Park. Imagine if his hand didn't hurt.

• I kept reading the last few weeks comments such as, "It's good Gerrit Cole is back to form..." It seems that rumors of his return to greatness have been greatly exaggerated.

• I do have to wonder how badly the Yankees have to play before all fans acknowledge what a disaster this Yankees team has become. Per Sal Maiorana, "the Yankees did not win a home series for the seventh time in a row. That hasn’t happened since July-August 1991." Think about that. Remember what the 1991 Yankees were. This team is recalling some of the worst teams most of us have seen in our lifetimes.

• I am actually saddened by all of this. I love the Yankees. I root for these guys. I invest a ton of time, effort, and energy into the team. I have to tell it like it is - which means I have to note when the players (who I like and root for) do poorly. The team is a disaster right now. It's not getting better. It's getting worse. I'd much rather write about how great the Yankees are playing.

• Aaron Boone never has any answers. One can see that this is a defeated baseball club. How many managers live through years of collapses like this? How many survive a collapse like just this year's alone? And yet, the same act continues - turning fans off and making watching the Yankees a chore. What a shame.

Next Up:

The Yankees are off tonight, but they pickup again on Friday playing the Red Sox in Boston. Nestor Cortes will start for the Yankees. Game time is 7:10 p.m.