New York Yankees 2-3 New York Mets
Cody Bellinger and DJ LeMahieu both turned in standout performances. Clarke Schmidt delivered another solid outing. And yet, the Yankees dropped a tough one in the Bronx on Saturday afternoon, falling 3-2 to the Mets after a ninth-inning rally.
Ninth-inning gut punch ends solid showing
Clarke Schmidt continued his recent run of strong starts, tossing six innings of three-hit, two-run ball. He struck out four, but a season-high five walks — including a leadoff free pass to Francisco Lindor in the fourth — came back to bite. Juan Soto and Pete Alonso followed with back-to-back singles to tie the game, and a sac fly brought Soto home for a 2-1 Mets lead.
DJ LeMahieu opened the scoring with a solo homer in the third, his first since July 2024. The 333-foot shot just cleared the short porch in right. But the lead didn’t last long, and the Yankees’ bats couldn’t provide the necessary support later on.
Bellinger tied things back up in the sixth, crushing a 432-foot blast to center to extend his hitting streak to 12 games. Jasson Domínguez and Anthony Volpe followed with singles to put runners on the corners, but Domínguez was thrown out at home on a contact play gone wrong. The inning ended with the score still tied, and the Yankees missed their chance to pull ahead.
Schmidt surprisingly returned for the seventh, but after allowing a leadoff hit, he was pulled for Mark Leiter Jr., who managed to escape without further damage. The Yankees flashed some sharp defense — Bellinger and Volpe combined on a flawless relay to cut down a runner at the plate, and LeMahieu followed with a brilliant off-balance throw to nab Lindor at first.
The game stayed tied into the ninth after both bullpens held firm. Fernando Cruz had escaped a jam in the eighth with a strikeout of Mark Vientos, but his second inning of work unraveled. A walk, infield single, and hit-by-pitch loaded the bases for Lindor, who delivered a sac fly to give the Mets the go-ahead run.
The Yankees had no answer in the bottom of the ninth. Edwin Díaz struck out Austin Wells, Ben Rice, and Aaron Judge to seal the win. Judge’s 0-for-5 day dropped his average from .414 to .402.
Roster
| hitters | H-AB | R | HR | RBI | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| B. RiceDH | 1-5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .252 |
| A. JudgeRF | 0-5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .402 |
| C. BellingerCF | 1-3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | .243 |
| P. Goldschmidt1B | 0-4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .341 |
| J. DominguezLF | 2-3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .246 |
| A. VolpeSS | 2-4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .242 |
| J.C. EscarraC | 0-2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .189 |
| D. LeMahieu2B | 2-4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | .375 |
| J. Vivas3B | 0-2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .172 |
| T. GrishamPH | 0-1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .274 |
| O. Peraza3B | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .179 |
| A. WellsPH | 0-1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .206 |
| pitchers | IP | H | ER | BB | K | PC-ST | ERA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| C. Schmidt | 6.0 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 5 | 88-53 | 4.41 |
| M. Leiter Jr. | 1.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8-8 | 2.95 |
| T. Hill | 0.2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11-9 | 3.72 |
| F. Cruz | 1.1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 26-13 | 2.66 |
Up next
It was a deflating loss for the Yankees, who had several chances but couldn’t capitalize. They’ll look to rebound in Sunday’s rubber match, with ace Max Fried taking the mound against Mets lefty David Peterson. First pitch is scheduled for 7:10 p.m. EDT.
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