Yankees

Yankees Waste Too Many Chances As Mets Even Subway Series

By ••4 min read
Yankees Waste Too Many Chances As Mets Even Subway Series

The Yankees did not lose this game because they had no chances. They lost because they had plenty of them and kept finding new ways to waste them.

The Game Was Sitting Right There

The Yankees lost to the Mets 6-3 at Citi Field, and this one was not some mystery.

They had traffic all night.

They had 9 hits.

They had walks.

They had Aaron Judge on base.

They had Jazz Chisholm Jr. making noise.

They had the bases loaded with nobody out in the 7th inning.

And they still walked out with 3 runs.

That is the part that makes this loss annoying. Not shocking. Annoying.

Because the Yankees were not completely shut down. They were not helpless. They put themselves in position to take this game back, and then the big at-bat never came.

The Yankees finished 3-for-15 with runners in scoring position and stranded 11 runners.

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That is the game.

Rodón Had Stuff, But The Command Was A Problem

Carlos Rodón had moments where the arm looked alive. He struck out 6 over 3.2 innings, so this was not some lifeless start where he had nothing.

But the command?

No.

And that is becoming the concern.

Rodón allowed 3 runs, 2 earned, on 3 hits and 3 walks. The Mets did their damage by extending innings and forcing him to make pitches he could not finish.

The 3rd inning was the turning point.

Rodón had 2 outs and nobody on. Then Carsen Benge doubled, Bo Bichette walked, Juan Soto walked, and suddenly the inning was getting weird.

Then it got ridiculous.

Rodón uncorked a pitch that got away, bounced off the padding near the backstop, and his rushed throw helped 2 Mets runs score.

You cannot make this stuff up.

That turned a 1-0 Yankees lead into a 2-1 Mets lead, and from there the game started leaning the wrong way.

The Yankees Answered, But Never Fully Punched Back

The Yankees did get on the board first.

Chisholm doubled in the 2nd, Amed Rosario moved him over, and Trent Grisham singled him in.

Good baseball.

Simple baseball.

Then Paul Goldschmidt came through in the 5th with an RBI single after Ben Rice was hit by a pitch and Judge walked.

Again, the Yankees were right there.

But every time it looked like they were about to put together the inning, the inning died.

Chisholm struck out to end the 5th with 2 men on. Austin Wells struck out with 2 on in the 6th. The Yankees kept building the start of something, then leaving it unfinished.

That cannot keep happening.

The 7th Inning Was The Killer

This was the inning.

Judge doubled. Cody Bellinger reached on an error, and Judge scored. Goldschmidt got hit by a pitch. Chisholm dropped a bunt single into no-man’s land behind the mound.

Bases loaded.

Nobody out.

Down 2.

That is the spot where the game is begging to be stolen.

Instead, Luke Weaver came in and made the Yankees look small in the biggest moment of the night.

Rosario struck out.

Grisham struck out.

Anthony Volpe grounded into a forceout.

Threat over.

That was brutal. Not because the Yankees needed a miracle. They did not. They needed 1 grown-up at-bat. A sac fly. A ground ball through the middle. Something.

They got nothing.

Soto And Vientos Made The Yankees Pay

The Mets did not beat the Yankees with home runs. They beat them by staying in innings and taking advantage of mistakes.

Juan Soto reached base 4 times with 2 hits and 2 walks. Mark Vientos drove in 3 runs, including the 2-run double in the 5th that pushed the Mets’ lead to 5-2.

Brett Baty also added an RBI double in the 4th.

That was the difference. The Mets got the swing when they needed it. The Yankees kept waiting for theirs.

This Road Trip Is Getting Ugly

The Yankees are now 2-6 on this road trip, and the record is not the only issue.

It is the way these games are being lost.

Missed chances.

Bad situational at-bats.

Pitchers losing the zone at the wrong time.

The bullpen giving up just enough to keep the comeback out of reach.

Judge had 2 hits. Goldschmidt had 2 hits. Chisholm had 2 hits.

Still lost.

That tells you everything.

Final Thought

This was a winnable Subway Series game.

The Yankees did enough to make the Mets sweat, but not enough to actually take the game. And that is the frustrating part.

At some point, traffic on the bases has to turn into damage.

At some point, “we had chances” stops being an explanation and starts sounding like an excuse.

The Yankees have the series finale Sunday.

They need it.

Not because 1 May game defines a season.

But because this team needs to stop letting winnable games turn into lectures.

Yankees
28-18
2nd AL East
3
Final
Mets
19-26
5th NL East
6

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