Gut Reaction: Mets 6, Yankees 5 (7/4/25)
Jeff McNeil hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the seventh inning to give the Mets the lead and Reed Garrett delivered a six-out save to give the Mets a 6-5 win over the Yankees Friday afternoon. The Mets are now 51-38 and are on a three-game winning streak for the first time since they went 6-0 in back-to-back series against the Rockies and Nationals from June 6-12.
Pete Alonso drew a two-out walk in the seventh inning, bringing McNeil to the plate. On a 3-2 pitch, McNeil pulled a ball 398 feet to the upper deck in right field, giving the Mets a 6-5 lead. It was the ninth homer of the year for McNeil, who missed the first month-plus of the season.
Garrett came on in the eighth inning. The Mets had already used Huascar Brazoban and both Edwin Diaz and Ryne Stanek had gotten seven outs in the previous two games. Garrett gave up a single but an otherwise uneventful eighth. And he had a 1-2-3 ninth inning, thanks in part to a strong defensive play by McNeil.
Playing fairly close to the second-base bag, the hitter hit a soft liner closer to first base than second. McNeil covered a lot of ground, dove and came up with the ball. He fired a strike to Alonso for the second out of the ninth. The final out was a routine play to McNeil. By having the perfect ninth inning, Garrett kept Aaron Judge, who was slated to be the fourth hitter in the frame, from coming to the plate.
There were seven home runs in the game, four by the Yankees and three by the Mets. Three of the four homers by the visitors were solo shots. The Mets got two run homers by Juan Soto and McNeil, along with a solo shot by Brett Baty. Soto’s shot tied the game 2-2 in the first inning, while Baty’s homer cut the deficit to 5-4 in the sixth inning, setting the stage for McNeil in the following frame.
Alonso had an RBI single in the third inning which gave the Mets a 3-2 lead. The hit scored Soto, who had doubled. Facing his former mates, Soto had a 3-4 day. He now has a .915 OPS for the season.
Justin Hagenman had a serviceable spot start, going 4.1 IP and allowing 3 HR and 4 ER. Austin Warren followed up with 1.2 innings. Brazoban struck out the side in the seventh inning, setting the stage for Garrett.
It was incredibly nice to see that the two relievers who struggled so much in June – Brazoban and Garrett – combine for three scoreless innings in this one.
The Mets will try to win the series Saturday afternoon, with Frankie Montas taking the mound in the 4:10 p.m. start.
Today it was once again shown why McNeil should be in the lineup everyday - somewhere. He plays a decent CF and the reasons for not playing him there at least four days a week are trash. Looking at what other teams have in CF, and their OAA, it is hard to see how McNeil is so unplayable when Nimmo played there flawlessly for a couple of years while playing rather deep.
As Vientos tries to be the sixth cog in the lineup, the other three spots can be filled with some combination of what’s left.
The Mets beat the Yankees today with their AAA pitchers pitching 2/3 of thw game. That is some 4th of July present. Let’s see how the major leaguers do now.
Wow,McaNeil having a good season, Be nice if one more hitter could step up and then acquire another in a trade. 7 hitters would make me a lotmorecomfortable than 5.