Mets Trounce Collapsing Yankees 12-3, Completing Subway Series Sweep

The New York Mets completed their second two-game sweep of the New York Yankees Wednesday night, taking the fourth and final Subway Series game of 2024 in dominant 12-3 fashion. As the Mets rallied behind a white-hot offense, the Yankees suffered yet another categorical failure in a once-hopeful season.

After falling to the Mets 3-2 on Tuesday night, which included shaky reliever Jake Diekman striking out likely A.L. MVP Aaron Judge to earn the save, the Yankees anticipated a momentum swing Wednesday. Reigning A.L. Cy Young winner Gerrit Cole was facing off against Sean Manaea, giving the Yankees a decided advantage.

At first, they seemed to be well on their way. Gleyber Torres hit a solo home run off Manaea to give the Yanks a 1-0 lead. Meanwhile, Cole retired the first eight Mets batters he faced. Mets outfielder Tyrone Taylor eventually broke through with a solo shot of his own, but Juan Soto quickly responded with his own homer, giving the Yankees a 2-1 lead going into the fourth inning.

Then the dam broke. The Mets scored 11 unanswered runs in an offensive barrage. Cole ended the night allowing six runs on eight hits in 5.2 innings. Pete Alonso and Mark Vientos both hit home runs, and Francisco Lindor hit one from each side of the plate. Every single Mets batter reached first in the game, and Brandon Nimmo was the only that did not do so with a hit.

Jeff McNeil stayed hot with two hits and Taylor, who has been struggling in recent weeks, finished the night 3-for-5. Taylor is now 6-for-9 with two home runs in his career against the Yankees ace.

“I was focused on being ready for the heater,’’ Taylor said after the game. “I’m thankful to have success off him.”

While the Yankees have struggled immensely in the past two months to squeeze production out of hitters not named Judge or Soto, the Mets have slowly built one of the deepest lineups in the league. In Wednesday’s game, the Yankees got two total hits from players batting fourth to ninth. The Mets got nine, including three home runs and six RBIs.

With a 53-48 record, the Mets exited the game with sole control of the second N.L. Wild Card spot, completing a sudden turnaround that began when the team was 11 games under .500 in May. The Yankees, on the other hand, are still 60-44 but have gone 15-25 in their last 40 games. The team has lost control of the A.L. East division to the Orioles and is slowly losing ground in the Wild Card race as well.

For many, the Mets are still not yet a serious playoff contender, as the team still has questions to answer concerning the starting rotation and bullpen. But through sustained offensive firepower, the Mets have managed to rebuild themselves this summer and put management in a position to buy at the trade deadline. In four victories against the Yankees in 2024, they scored 36 runs.

The Yankees, once World Series contenders after an extremely hot start, are slipping into obscurity despite holding one of the best records in baseball. The team has not recovered from injuries to Anthony Rizzo and Giancarlo Stanton, and while the lineup has frozen over, the starting pitching has regressed as well. The front office is still preparing for an active trade deadline, but there seem to be too many holes to plug.

“Nobody has higher expectations than us in that frickin’ room,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said after the Subway Series sweep. “We’re pissed off. We got to play better. This has gone on long enough. It’s very frustrating to go through. But I also know we’re competing our asses off. We just got to make sure we continue to walk in with the right level of edge and willingness to compete because no one’s going to pull us out of this but us.”