One-hundred twenty-two games remain in this 2014 season, and the Yankees (21-19) and Mets (19-21) reside just two games apart in the neighborhood of mediocrity.
Yet the conclusion of the Subway Series has left us energized and curious, rather than drained and bored. If the two teams can be as interesting going their separate ways as they were hanging out together, we’ll have ourselves quite a lively campaign.
The Yankees won the finale, 1-0 at Citi Field, as their debuting rookie starter Chase Whitley teamed with dynamic rookie reliever Dellin Betances to outpitch — by the slightest of margins — Mets debuting rookie starter Jacob deGrom. So this intracity matchup concluded with a 2-2 tie, as both clubs swept a pair in the other’s ballpark.
“The game of baseball is extremely interesting to me, because emotions can fluctuate a lot about how a team’s playing from day-to-day, from week-to-week,” victorious manager Joe Girardi said after the game. “We weren’t pitching too well. You think about this series, you saw a ton of hitting the first two games, and then you didn’t see much the next two games. So it can fluctuate a lot.”
The Yankees found themselves in crisis mode halfway through; late Thursday night, a sense of relief pervaded the visitors’ clubhouse. Halfway through, the Mets wondered if they could carry over their positive offensive karma from the Bronx — where they scored 21 runs in two nights — back home. They failed miserably, putting up goose eggs two straight nights, yet they appeared heartened by the back-to-back encouraging big-league debuts of Rafael Montero and deGrom.
Goodness, was this an eventful four days. Yankees right fielder Carlos Beltran (right elbow) and reliever Shawn Kelley (back) joined Mets starter Dillon Gee (latissimus dorsi) on the 15-day disabled list, and poor Mets catcher Travis d’Arnaud went on the seven-day DL after Alfonso Soriano’s backswing Tuesday gave the rookie receiver a concussion.
Masahiro Tanaka recorded his first major-league complete game and shutout Wednesday night, continuing his awesome rookie campaign. The Mets cut Kyle Farnsworth, who recorded their most recent save Monday against the Yankees, and they demoted Jenrry Mejia to the bullpen with the intent of eventually making him the closer.
Oh, and the Mets honored retiring Yankees captain Derek Jeter Thursday with a cake (eh), a piece of art constructed with New York City subway tiles (eh) and a $22,222.22 check to Jeter’s Turn Two Foundation (excellent — that’s far more than the typical donation).
Game 4 featured only the second pre-September matchup of debuting pitchers this millennium — the previous pitted Detroit’s Rick Porcello against Toronto’s Ricky Romero on April 9, 2009 at Rogers Centre — but we didn’t enter expecting something like Dwight Gooden vs. Fernando Valenzuela. DeGrom, 25, is a late bloomer, and Whitley, 24, a survivor.
Nevertheless, the pair — with a huge assist from Betances — gave us something vaguely resembling Doc vs. El Toro, in that zeroes dominated the scoreboard. Whitley, on a pitch count of 75-to-80, lasted 4 ²/₃ innings (and 74 pitches) and didn’t permit a run, giving up just two singles and walking two and striking out four. Betances, another late bloomer whose importance to the Yankees increases steadily, relieved Whitley, retired Eric Young Jr. on a groundout to escape a fifth-inning jam and then struck out the next six batters he faced. Amazing.
DeGrom, entering the game with more freedom than his counterpart, threw 91 pitches and clocked seven innings, allowing a run and four hits while walking two and striking out six. He also drew a standing ovation when his third-inning single, in his very first at-bat, ended the 0-for-64 with which the Mets pitchers ended their funk at the plate.
The right-hander might have escaped with a perfect ERA had David Wright been able to complete a seventh-inning double play while covering second base on a shift for Brian McCann’s grounder. Instead, after Wright threw the ball behind Lucas Duda to make McCann safe, Alfonso Soriano slammed a tie-breaking double into left-center field for the game’s only run.
Both deGrom and Whitley will get another chance in their teams’ starting rotations, and why not? DeGrom showed why the Mets like him so much, showing poise and athleticism along with a nice repertoire. Whitley displayed surprising pitchability and enthusiasm.
Neither team came away looking like a world-beater, and both could fall and not get up at some juncture. Yet for now, we want to keep looking at them. In this season of low external expectations amidst high internal ambitions, that counts for something.