Taijuan Walker adds to Yankees' misery as Mets roll in Subway Series opener, 8-3
NEW YORK — There were no fireworks at Yankee Stadium for the home team a day before the Fourth of July.
The Yankees didn’t do much to entertain a crowd of more than 40,000 on another soggy day at the ballpark a day after the opening game of the Subway Series got rained out in the Bronx.
The Mets faithful sure had a good time, though.
Taijuan Walker held the Yankees hitless for five innings and the Mets offense got things rolling midway through the game en route to a 8-3 win over their crosstown rival.
After the Mets nickle and dimed their way to three runs in the fifth, the boo birds in the Bronx came out in full force in the next frame when five straight batters reached base against ex-Met Justin Wilson. The big blow came off the bat of Dominic Smith. He doubled to left with the bases loaded to drive in two more and push the lead to 6-0.
The normally reserved Mets offense finished with 14 hits. The Mets (42-36) came into the game averaging just 3.6 runs per game.
Instead it was the sleepwalking Yankees (41-40) who looked completely lost at the plate until Aaron Judge finally homered off Walker in the sixth to end the righty’s no-hit bid. But by that point Walker had eight runs of support on the scoreboard. His day was done two batters later after Giancarlo Stanton singled. He walked off the Stadium mound to a nice ovation from the Mets faithful in the crowd. His final line was 5 2/3 innings, five strikeouts, two walks, two hits and two earned runs on 106 pitches.
Miguel Castro, Jeurys Familia (in his first relief appearance since coming off the IL) and Drew Smith finished off what Walker started as the Mets snapped a two-game skid.
Saturday’s sluggish loss was the Yankees' sixth in their last seven games. The Yankees — just days after owner Hal Steinbrenner called out the players to be better — are now just a game over .500 and buried deep in the AL East standings.
The two teams will cap the holiday weekend series with a split doubleheader on Sunday. The first game is scheduled for a 2:05 p.m. ET start.
