The Yankees went up five, went down 7-5, then recaptured the lead in a wild eighth inning to eventually win, 8-7, and break their seven-game losing streak.
Six things to know from Saturday’s game
1. The Yankees grabbed a five-run lead in the second inning with three home runs by Kyle Higashioka, Brett Gardner and Aaron Judge, respectively. The first two were two-run homers. It was their first three-homer inning of 2021.
2. The Yankees didn’t have much breathing room for long, as the Mets answered in the bottom of the second with three runs off Corey Kluber, who finished with 4 IP, 4 ER, 1 HR, 2 BB and 6 K in his third start back from his IL stint.
He’s yet to pitch into the fifth inning in those three starts.
3. After those five runs in the second, the Yankees’ offense went cold, allowing starter Taijuan Walker to go six innings and retire the last 13 batters he faced. Overall, Mets pitching retired 16 Yankees in a row after that big second inning.
4. The score was 5-4 until the bottom of the sixth, when Chad Green allowed a two-run home run to James McCann, giving the Mets their first lead of the game at 6-5.
5. The Yankees finally rallied in the eighth inning, when Gardner singled to start followed by a towering home run by Judge, his second of the night. After Giancarlo Stanton singled, Andrew Velazquez pinch ran and eventually scored on an errant throw to first by Javier Baez, making it 8-7.
6. From there, Albert Abreu threw a bumpy-but-scoreless eighth and Aroldis Chapman did the same allowing a one-out double to J.D. Davis before striking out Kevin Pillar — Higashioka recovered to throw Pillar out at first after the ball squibbed away — and got McCann to fly out, finally ending the seven-game losing streak.
Highlights
What’s next
The Yankees and Mets wrap up their three-game series on Sunday at 8:08 p.m. Carlos Carrasco will pitch for the Mets, while the Yankees have not yet announced a starter.