NY Yankees, Mets: What’s ahead following first Subway Series matchup
After the Yankees took two out of three in the first Subway Series in 2025, what can they and the Mets expect before their July rematch.
NEW YORK — Jared Young had been working to get back and deliver in the major leagues for 604 days.
On Tuesday night, behind the faith provided by Mets manager Carlos Mendoza, Young came through in a big way.
The 29-year-old utility man had bided his time in the minor leagues and spent a full season in the KBO League in South Korea. He bounced between three separate major league organizations, ultimately landing in Triple-A Syracuse this season.
Young finally provided that long-awaited hit as a member of the Mets against the White Sox. It was a highlight to remember.
Young belted a two-run home run over the right-field wall, highlighting a four-run first inning that set the Mets on their way to a 6-4 victory over the White Sox in front of 34,944 fans at Cit Field.
“You believe in yourself and believe in the player that you are, I feel like it takes care a lot of a lot of things,” Young said. “There’s gonna be a lot of ups and downs in kind of any career, I don’t care if you’re playing baseball or doing anything, but I feel like the more you believe in yourself, you can get where you want to go.”
The long ball was Young’s first hit since Oct. 1, 2023, as a member of the Cubs. The designated hitter, who was playing in his 25th major league game, finished the night 2-for-3 with a run and two RBI.
“He’s back in the big leagues after grinding, whether it’s minor leagues up and down, going overseas, getting an opportunity back here in the states, and here we are, giving him a chance and he’s taking advantage of it,” Carlos Mendoza said. “I like the at-bats and it was good to see him get some results today.”
It was the Mets’ fourth straight victory as they moved 13 games over .500 — matching a season high — at 34-21.
Jared Young, Pete Alonso highlight explosive first inning
The top of the Mets’ lineup had its wires crossed in the first inning.
Brandon Nimmo reached on a single up the middle with one out, but in the next at-bat, Juan Soto lined a pitch into the right-center field gap that bounced short of a diving Michael A. Taylor. Nimmo did not see that the ball skipped and retreated back to first base as Juan Soto made a wide turn of first base past Nimmo, resulting in a putout.
That was the only trouble for the Mets in the frame as they followed that second out with five straight hits off White Sox starter Jonathan Cannon. Pete Alonso evened the score at 2-2 with a 419-foot two-run home run to right-center field. It was the Mets first baseman’s 11th home run of the season.
“It’s a screwy play, probably not going to see another one like that this year, but just wanted to do the best I could with my opportunity at the dish,” Alonso said.
After Brett Baty knocked a first-pitch single in the next at-bat, Young tagged an inside cutter over the right-field wall to put the Mets ahead 4-2. Before the game, Carlos Mendoza highlighted Young’s ability to work the count as a reason to keep him stationed in the sixth spot in the lineup despite going 0-for-5 with one run and one strikeout in his first three games as a Met.
“You take a look at this team from the top down, it’s pretty good ballplayers and winning a lot of games, so to get thrown into it, I feel like I belong,” said Young, who was called up last Saturday. “I feel like it’s a good spot and a good fit, and I hope we can just keep winning some ball games.”
It was the first time in Young’s career that he recorded multiple extra-base hits. The Mets loaded the bases with the next three batters reaching but Francisco Lindor grounded out for the final out.
The Mets collected six hits off Cannon in the frame, matching a season high for a single inning. They added one more run off Cannon in the third inning, with Baty singling and Young knocking a double to set up a Jeff McNeil sacrifice fly.
Jose Castillo, Reed Garrett hold the lead
With the Mets holding a 5-2 lead in the seventh inning, things nearly unraveled with Jose Butto, who had escaped a bases-loaded jam one inning earlier, on the mound.
With two outs and a runner on base after the Mets could not make a clean turn of a double play, Butto gave up a single to Mike Tauchman and then a passed ball past Francisco Alvarez allowed Chase Meidroth to score. Butto left a knee-high slider over the heart of the plate to Miguel Vargas, who laced an RBI double to left field to make it 5-4.
Mendoza called upon Jose Castillo to get the final out. He hit Andrew Benintendi with the third pitch of his appearance before striking out Edgar Quero on a high fastball to work through the threat and protect a one-run lead.
With Edwin Diaz’s hefty workload of late, Reed Garrett earned his second save of the season by striking out back-to-back batters to end the eighth inning and working around a one-out walk with a lineout and a strikeout of Benintendi.
“I thought Megill going into the sixth, Butto getting out of that inning and going back out there, Castillo getting an out in the eighth, I thought the game was right there for Reed Garrett,” Mendoza said.
Tylor Megill settles in, can’t get through six
The opening inning put Tylor Megill on his back foot.
The Mets right-hander walked Tauchman and then surrendered a two-run home run to Vargas to fall behind 2-0 in the early going.
But after the Mets’ offense lashed out, Megill found his rhythm. In between the third and fifth innings, Megill picked up six straight outs. He picked up all six of his strikeouts between the fourth and sixth frames.
“Kind of just changed the game plan, get down in the bottom of the zone and then kind of go north-south,” Megill said. “I threw a lot of curveballs there to get them out front, swing and miss and chase. About the second and third time through, then it started to really open up.”
Two of those strikeouts came after Tauchman singled to lead off the sixth inning, but Megill could not pick up the final out. With two outs, Megill walked Quero and Joshua Palacios to force Mendoza’s hand. Butto then picked up the final out on a fly ball to center field.
Megill finished his start with two earned runs allowed on four hits and four walks across 5â…” innings to improve to 4-4.