Mets show how to rebound in comeback win over Yankees

New York Times

6 hours ago

NEW YORK — As he entered the dugout after the eighth inning, receiving high-fives for a job well done, Reed Garrett was pulled aside by Carlos Mendoza.
'I was trying to walk away so he couldn't take me out of the game,' Garrett said.
That's exactly what Mendoza was hoping.
'Give me everything you've got,' the manager said.
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'I've got you,' the reliever replied.
So, Garrett started pacing. All the way to the end of the dugout, and back. Halfway down, and back. Down the steps to throw a seven-ounce plyoball as hard as he can against the wall, and back. For the eight minutes the Mets batted in the bottom of the eighth, Garrett was a shark incapable of pausing even for a second.
'I can't sit down,' he said afterward. 'When I sit down, I dump my adrenaline and have trouble getting back up. So I've learned to keep walking around to keep engaged.'
REED GARRETT FINISHES OFF THE SAVE! 😤
METS WIN! pic.twitter.com/xHd3oqW63m
— SNY Mets (@SNY_Mets) July 4, 2025
Garrett recorded the final six outs of the Mets' invigorating 6-5 win over the Yankees on Friday, the third straight win for a team that had won only three of its prior 17 games before the stretch. This was a bounceback — for Garrett, for a besieged bullpen, for an offense that might finally be clicking, for a team backed into a corner and starting, belatedly, to punch its way out.
The Mets began Friday, as they have most days in the last few weeks, placing a pitcher on the injured list. This time it was José Buttó, with an undisclosed illness — the 13th hurler on the IL for New York. That shortened an already shallow bullpen, since Edwin Díaz and Ryne Stanek had been used on back-to-back days. Mendoza knew the only two leverage arms he had were Garrett and Huascar Brazobán. The problem was that Garrett and Brazobán had been lit up like sparklers over the last month, combining for a 15.95 ERA since June 3.
'The month of June was a grind,' Garrett said.
When the Mets were within a run after coaxing six innings out of spot starter Justin Hagenman and reliever Austin Warren, Mendoza turned to Brazobán. The Mets have been working with the righty on refining his mix; they love his sinker and his changeup, but they recognize now he needs to occasionally throw his four-seamer and cutter to keep hitters off balance. A 2-1 cutter that Aaron Judge fouled back helped set up the subsequent changeup for a big strikeout in a scoreless frame.
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After Jeff McNeil's two-run homer gave the Mets the lead in the bottom of the inning, it was Garrett's turn for redemption. He also had become too predictable, especially against lefties who had learned to jump early in counts on his cutter in. So Garrett leaned into the execution of his sinker early and splitter late to work around a single in the eighth and to retire the side in order in the ninth, keeping Judge in the on-deck circle for the final out.
Again, McNeil provided an enormous boost. On D.J. LeMahieu's one-out flop shot to the right side of the infield, McNeil slid, snagged a ball that was already behind him, got to his feet and fired to first for the out. He let out a scream after.
OH, JEFF! pic.twitter.com/sbVDTrkdM3
— New York Mets (@Mets) July 4, 2025
'That was sick,' Garrett said. 'That's an unbelievable play.'
'That ball gets through, it's a completely different inning,' Mendoza said, his mind in the dugout racing through whether he'd have to intentionally walk Judge and bring in lefty Richard Lovelady behind Garrett.
It was the second straight ninth inning where the Mets made a gem of a defensive play. On Thursday, Luis Torrens and Francisco Lindor teamed up to catch Christian Yelich stealing by a hair. Those plays weren't going their way for a while; they are these last few nights.
The offense, slow to pick up the slack these last three weeks, is finally showing up, as well. After Hagenman allowed back-to-back homers to lead off the game Friday, Juan Soto answered with a two-run blast in the bottom of the inning — his Subway Series experience more enjoyable in Queens than it was in the Bronx back in May. Soto doubled and scored in the third, as well, staying red-hot at the plate.
'I just feel good right now,' he said. 'I'm seeing the ball really well. I feel like I'm trying to take my chances. When I swing the bat, I am trying to do damage every time.'
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Brett Baty's sixth-inning homer pulled the Mets within a run, and it was McNeil collapsing his arms and pulling a Luke Weaver changeup into the second deck that proved to be the game-winner.
'It's always a battle with them,' McNeil said. 'These are very emotional in a playoff-like atmosphere. We enjoy it.'
'It's what you expect,' Mendoza said, 'out of the Subway Series.'