Subway Series: Mets' Luke Weaver pulls Houdini act, Mark Vientos has 3 RBIs to beat Yankees
Mets reliever Luke Weaver walks back to the dugout after the Yankees' Anthony Volpe grounded out in the 7th inning with the bases loaded at Citi Field on Saturday. Credit: Jim McIsaac
It had been a dark few hours for the Mets in a season that’s so far been full of them. Juan Soto lamented Clay Holmes’ injury on Friday night – a broken leg that will keep him out for months – and Carlos Mendoza noted that despite the Mets many misfortunes, this one ‘felt different.’
“We’ve got to keep going, man,” Mendoza said.
But against the odds, the Mets, keyed by one of Holmes’ close friends – also a former fellow Yankee reliever – were able to find the light.
Luke Weaver, who came in with the bases loaded and no outs in the seventh, stranded the runners there, and Mark Vientos chipped in three RBIs as the Mets defeated the Yankees, 6-3, at Citi Field Saturday. Weaver also further saved an already-taxed relief corps at the tail end of a bullpen game, pitching a scoreless eighth – an inning where he helped turn a double play and got Aaron Judge to fly out to center for the final out. Devin Williams pitched a perfect ninth for his sixth save and his first at home.
It marked the first time this season the Mets have defeated a team that is currently over .500.
The Yankees hit first in the second, when Huascar Brazoban was pulled for David Peterson after 1 1/3 perfect innings. Jazz Chisholm Jr. hit a long double on the second pitch he saw from the lefty and, after moving to third on a ground out, scored the opening run when Trent Grisham’s grounder squirted by a diving Bo Bichette.
The Mets, though, were able to scrounge their first lead of the series in the most unorthodox of manners. After Carlos Rodon struck out the first two batters he saw in the third inning, Carson Benge turned on a 2-and-2 slider and drove it to right for a stand-up double. Rodon issued back-to-back walks to Bichette and Soto and, with Vientos at the plate, sailed a fastball high over Austin Wells’ head for a run-scoring wild pitch. The ball ricocheted off the backstop and sailed to a scrambling Rodon, who barehanded the ball and tried to throw home, only to sail it far wide, allowing Bichette to slide home safely and give the Mets the 2-1 lead.
They added one more in the fourth, when Austin Slater drew a two-out walk to bring up Brett Baty, who doubled to right and knocked Rodon out of the game. He allowed three runs, two earned on three hits and three walks with six strikeouts in 3 2/3 innings.
The Yankees, though, drew within a run in the fifth when with runners on the corners and two outs, Paul Goldschmidt grounded a single through the right side of the infield, scoring Ben Rice, who had been hit by a pitch. Peterson, though, bared down on Chisholm, striking home out swinging on a sinker above the zone to strand the tying run in scoring position.
It would come back to haunt the Yankees, and Vientos once again found himself in the middle of the action – this time as an active participant. Benge led off the bottom of the fifth with a single and Soto walked with one out to bring up the righty, who lined Brent Headrick splitter by a diving Amed Rosario, scoring two runs as the ball shot to the left-field corner, putting the Mets up 5-2.
Peterson, meanwhile, allowed two runs on six hits, with three walks and eight strikeouts over four innings. The lefty has a 2.25 ERA in 20 innings as a bulk man this year, compared to an 8.10 ERA in 23 1/3 innings as a traditional starter.
Things, though, got hairy for the Mets in the seventh, after Judge led off the inning with a double off Brooks Raley. Cody Bellinger hit a lazy pop up to right but Benge appeared to lose it in the lights, allowing Judge to score and landing Bellinger on second. Goldschmidt was hit by a pitch and then Chisholm bunted over Raley’s head to load the bases with no outs to prompt the bullpen doors to open for Weaver.
Weaver, though, put together what might be the relief performance of the season thus far: He set up Rosario with a 97.6 mph fastball before striking him out on a foul tip off an 88.9 mph changeup, struck out Trent Grisham swinging on a changeup out of the zone, and then got Anthony Volpe to hit into a force out at second. Weaver hasn’t allowed a run in six appearances this month.
Vientos added some insurance with a run-scoring ground out in the seventh.
Laura Albanese is the Mets beat writer for Newsday. She's been covering MLB since 2014 after starting at Newsday as an intern seven years earlier.
