Well Schlitt

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Cam Schlittler and the Yankees bullpen shut out the Mets 2-0, wasting Christian Scott’s really good start. 

Schlittler had it going from the jump. Francisco Lindor struck out, beaten on a 99 mph fastball, to lead off the top of the first. Juan Soto popped it up in foul territory. Bo Bichette looked at a sinker for strike three.

Scott only really made two mistakes, but that was more than enough for the Yankees. Ben Rice hit a mammoth (sarcasm) 333 foot homer to right to begin the bottom of the first. Scott shrugged it off, primarily using four-seamers to retire the next six batters without issue.

Schlittler’s perfect game bid ended with one out in the second when Jared Young drew a six pitch walk. But AJ Ewing lined out to Cody Bellinger in left, and then Francisco Alvarez got overmatched, swinging and missing at some heat. 

Austin Wells ambushed Scott, clubbing at a first pitch letter-high fastball for a legit dinger to make it 2-0. Scott was shaken after this, as evident by his walking of Jose Caballero and Rice after that. After a Justin Willard visitation, Bellinger flew out to left before Scott punched out Aaron Judge admiring a splitter. Scotty couldn’t believe he got away with it.

With two outs in the top of the fifth, the Mets finally recorded their first hit when Brett Baty doubled off the right field wall. However, Nick Morabito grounded out to short to end the half inning. 

Scott impressively struck out all three batters he faced in the bottom of the frame, including Rice.

Schlittler fanned Lindor to start the top of the sixth. Juan Soto worked a nine-pitch at-bat next, where he was seemingly in his element, teasing Schlittler over pitch selection, or at least trying to get in his head.

But on a 3-2 curveball, Soto was ruled by third base umpire Lance Barrett to have went around for strike three. You be the totally impartial judge:

On the first pitch he saw, Bo Bichette hit a 111.5 mph liner right at Schlittler’s leg. It bounced off of the pitcher, was fielded by the catcher Wells, and thrown to first for the absurdly easy 1-2-3 putout. After the game, Yankee manager Aaron Boone said Schlittler would be okay, but the comebacker knocked him out of the contest. 

Scott threw a 1-2-3 bottom of the sixth to finish his day strong. Overall, he permitted two runs on three hits (two home runs), walked two, and struck out seven in 82 pitches. You couldn’t really ask for much more than that. Hell, Zac Thornton allowed the same number of runs over seven innings the day before and we want to put him in the Hall of Fame.

The Mets couldn’t take advantage of Schlittler’s exit. The Yankees bullpen looked bad Friday night, but they showed yesterday why they lead MLB in ERA. Against the southpaw Brent Headrick in the top of the seventh, Andy Green opted to not swap out any of the three lefties due to bat for any of the five right-handers sitting on his bench. Carson Benge lined out to Anthony Volpe at second, JY struck out, and a very frustrated Ewing flew out to left. 

Nate Lavender was tasked with the bottom half. He worked around a Volpe walk to get back to his zero earned runs allowed ways. 

Facing old chum Paul Blackburn in the top of the eighth, Alvy surprisingly worked a long at-bat that resulted in a hard hit single to center. He was pinch run for with Cristian Pache, which would prove not to matter. Baty flew out to right, Morabito tapped into a 4-3 fielder’s choice, and Lindor hit a lazy pop-up to short. 

Austin Warren struck out Jose Caballero on a fastball to begin the bottom of the eighth. He walked Rice before Cody Bellinger grounded into a 3-6 double play. Met killer Cody Bellinger ended his day 0 for 4. (And Aaron Judge went 0 for 3 with three strikeouts.) 

The Mets had a shot in the top of the ninth against David Bednar. Juan Soto struck out on a nasty splitter, but Bichette dropped a single in front of Bellinger to put the potential tying run at the plate. Benge grounded into a fielder’s choice that erased Bichette for the second out. Jared Young saw seven pitches, working the count full, before innocently flying out to center to end the contest. 

Some will say the Mets and Yankees ended up splitting the Subway Series in 2026 at three wins apiece. Others will point out that the Mets outscored them 31-24 in the six games. Either way, a downer of a finale, with the positive takeaway that Christian Scott looked good against a tough lineup. 

Juan Soto served as the Mets’ designated hitter for the second day in a row. I found this interesting, considering how poorly he moved around in left field on Friday night. It’s likely that Soto’s calf is more balky than he’s letting on, although I suppose there’s a slight chance Andy Green is sending some sort of message to the superstar after suspected laziness. 

Yankee Stadium chef Niko Marinos presented Howie Rose with a custom designed cake in honor of his last Subway Series broadcast. It was also Rose’s final road game on the radio airwaves.

Per WIll Sammon, Mets top prospect 3B-SS-2B Jefferson Rojas is getting promoted to Triple-A Syracuse for the final week of their regular season. In a perfect world, Rojas becomes the everyday second baseman next season and has as much success as Carson Benge, while Marcus Semien is convinced to pull a Michael Cuddyer (retire and forfeit all the money remaining on his contract.) A boy can dream.

The Mets announced their annual minor league awards:

Player of the Year: Mitch Voit 

Pitcher of the Year: Jonathan Santucci

DR Academy Player of the Year Cleiner Ramirez 

DR Academy Pitcher of the Year Abner Meza

The Triple-A Syracuse Mets were edged by the St. Paul Saints (Twins affiliate) 6-5. C Hayden Senger smacked his 12th homer of the season. DH Billy Amick hit his 8th. LF Ryan Clifford tripled. Starting RHP Justin Hagenman got a no-decision. He gave up one run on two hits in four innings. He walked two and struck out one. RHP Ryan “The Eggman” Lambert got the loss after he allowed four runs on one hit (a home run) in just two thirds of an inning. LHP Jefry Yan threw a scoreless inning where he didn’t allow a hit, walked one, and fanned the side. The SMets are 2.5 games out of first place in their division with six games remaining in the regular season. 

The Double-A Binghamton Rumble Ponies’ scheduled season finale against the Portland Sea Dogs (Red Sox) was cancelled. No more defending Eastern League champion Rumble Pony games until 2027. 

30 years ago today, Todd Hundley hit his 41st home run of the season to break Roy Campanella’s single-season record for home runs by a catcher.

Six years ago today,  Steve Cohen reached an agreement with the Wilpon and Katz families to purchase the New York Mets. 

Tonight Pete Alonso and his 299 career home runs come back to town as the Mets host the Baltimore Orioles. RHP Brandon Young (9-4 3.71 ERA 4.54 xFIP) will toe the rubber for the O’s. New York (NL) will counter with RHP Jonah Tong (2-1 4.80 ERA 4.95 xFIP). First pitch is scheduled for 7:10 pm eastern. The game will air on SNY and Audacy Radio 880 AM with Howie Rose and Keith Raad.