NEW YORK – The ball fell to the outfield grass after smacking the side of Carson Benge’s glove, and for a moment it felt like another Subway Series from a year to remember – one ballpark across town, a night when Alex Rodriguez teamed with Luis Castillo as the co-authors of an improbable Yankees comeback.
Aaron Judge played the part of Mark Teixeira this time, alertly chugging around the bases, but this wasn’t 2009. The similarities ended there, as the Yankees accepted the gift but were unable to capitalize further, representing a turning point in their 6-3 loss to the Mets on Saturday evening at Citi Field.
Luke Weaver escaped from a bases-loaded, none-out jam, striking out Amed Rosario and Trent Grisham before inducing an Anthony Volpe fielder’s choice. The Yankees have lost seven of 10 games since opening May with a five-game winning streak.
Carlos Rodón missed the first month-plus of the season while recovering from offseason surgery to remove bone chips from his left elbow. The veteran still appears to be rounding into form, exiting in the fourth inning as the Yankees leaned on their bullpen for 13 outs.
Supported early by Grisham’s run-scoring single, Rodón gave the advantage back in the third inning, firing a wild pitch that struck the brick backstop and reacted like a pop-up toward the first-base line.
As Benge broke from third, Rodón barehanded the ball and fired errantly toward home plate. His toss went wide, allowing Bo Bichette to also come home. Brett Baty added a run-scoring double in the fourth that chased Rodón, as all of the damage came with two outs.
The Mets were in control from there, even with Paul Goldschmidt stroking a fifth-inning RBI single that trimmed the deficit to a run at the time.