Yankees 5, Mets 1: Subway Series Begins with Derailment

There's interleague play, and then there's interleague play against the Yankees. Sometimes it's not so hard to forget how unbearable the Yankees and their fans can be until the Mets have to play them again.

The top of the first was no fun, beginning with singles by Nick Swisher and Curtis Granderson. Mark Teixeira doubled to score both of them, and after Alex Rodriguez made an out, Robinson Cano doubled, too, to bring home Teixeira. The Yankees had three runs on the board very quickly, but Jon Niese escaped the inning without further damage.

Niese stayed in the game for five more innings, and although he got into some jams for the remainder of those innings, he was effective. Seven strikeouts, two walks, and three runs is not the end of the world against the Yankees.

The Mets had opportunities to get back in the game, the first of which came in the second inning. With Jaosn Bay on third and Ronny Paulino on first, Ruben Tejada singled to get the Mets on the board. That was it for the inning, though, as Jon Niese tried to bunt but failed miserably and Jose Reyes grounded out to end the inning.

Angel Pagan had the chance to drive in more runs in the third and fifth innings, grounding out in the former and striking out with the bases loaded in the latter. He wasn't the only Met who failed to get the team even, but his outs were certainly the most memorable.

The Yankees pinch hit for Ivan Nova in the sixth inning, but the Mets failed to score in the bottom of that inning, too. Their next best opportunity came in the seventh after Reyes began the inning with a singled smoked up the middle. Justin Turner flied out deep to left field, and Reyes tagged up to advance to second. The throw from Curtis Granderson was mishandled by Eduardo Nunez, and Reyes went for third base. Nunez's throw to Alex Rodriguez was on time, but Rodriguez never tagged Reyes. That didn't matter for the Yankees because the home plate umpire, running up the third base line and still behind Rodriguez, called Reyes out.

Reyes' attempt to take third with Carlos Beltran coming up to the plate and the Mets down two runs was far from a good idea, but a bad call is a bad call. Robot umpires, please. Predictably, the Mets didn't score in the rest of the inning, either.

The Yankees added a run in the eighth inning after an error by Murphy to begin the inning. The blue-collar first baseman got a big piece of a throw from Reyes on a ground ball by Russell Martin, but it got past him. Soon thereafter, Nunez singled to bring Martin home and put the Yankees up 4-1. They added another run in the ninth when Alex Rodriguez nearly hit a home run that bounced off the left-center field wall that resulted in a double with Granderson on base.

The Yankees turned to Hector Noesi, who I hadn't heard of until this game, to begin the ninth inning. After a one-out single by Josh Thole, they called upon Mariano Rivera, who got Reyes to ground out for the second out of the inning, Turner singled, but Rivera got another ground out from Beltran to end the game.

The Mets try to even the series tomorrow afternoon and send Dillon Gee to the mound, while the Yankees will start Bartolo Colon.

Intentionally awesome quote of the game: "A-Rod right here, where's the purse?" - Keith Hernandez, describing Rodriguez's attempt to avoid a tag by Ruben Tejada in the top of the third inning.

SB Nation Coverage

* Traditional Recap
* Boxscore
* Amazin' Avenue Gamethread
* Pinstripe Alley Gamethread

Win Probability Added

Big winners: Jason Bay, +4.4% WPA
Big losers: Angel Pagan, -18.4% WPA
Teh aw3s0mest play: Ruben Tejada rib-eye single in the second, +7.1% WPA
Teh sux0rest play: Mark Teixeira two-run double in the first, -15.9% WPA
Total pitcher WPA: -14.2% WPA
Total batter WPA: -35.8% WPA
GWRBI!: Mark Teixeira

Game Thread Roll Call

Nice job by NetsMets4Life; his effort in the game thread embiggens us all.