BRONX - Damn, we need this one...and it came at the expense of the Yankees! Does it get any better?
Wallowing in a mid-summer duldrums searching for some much-needed MoJo, the Mets found it in Yankee Stadium, dispensing some of their own medicine on the Bronx Bombers. A combination of Jacob deGrom outdueling Gerrit Cole in a marquee matchup of aces and timely long balls from Michael Conforto and Amed Rosario, powered the Amazins to a 3-1 victory in the opening game of the Subway Series.
Cole was grooving through seven innings, protecting a 1-0 lead courtesy of a Gary Sanchez homer in the fifth. Things changed in the eighth.
After Pete Alonso tied the game with an RBI single in the seventh, Conforto, who has struggled mightly at the plate, maintained his feast-or-famine approach at the dish by unloading a solo blast to give the Mets the lead and his team-leading 19th roundtripper. Rosario ensued with a solo homer for his 14th of the season.
deGrom (11-3, 2.61) fanned eight, walked two and allowed three hits over seven innings. Seth Lugo worked around a leadoff single to hurl a scoreless eighth and Edwin Diaz dropped the hammer in the ninth, striking out Giancarlo Stanton, Aaron Judge and Sanchez in order to apply the exclamation point.
Cole (8-6, 2.98) was excellent, pitching into the ninth. He struck out 13 (whiffs continue to plague the Mets) against six hits and a walk.
