Game #45: Yankees 7, Mets 3

Mark Texeira congratulated Curtis Granderson after his sixth inning home run. (NYTimes.com)

After watching the last two Met-Yankee games, I've come to this realization: Yankee Stadium is a Little League park. Tonight that hurt us.

The Bronx Bombers launched four Chris Capuano pitches into the stands en route to a 7-3 victory over the Mets, evening the Subway Series at one game a piece.

The Bad Stuff:

• Not much Capuano could have done in this game. In the 5 1/3 innings he was on the hill, all 6 hits he gave up were turned into runs by way of the longball: 2-run bombs from Russell Martin and Mark Teixeira in the 2nd and 3rd, and solo shots from Curtis Granderson and Alex Rodriguez in the 6th. At the spacious Citi Field, most of those shots would likely be routine flyballs. Unfortunately, we were in Yankee Stadium. And while the Mets' outfielders did their best to make those shots routine flyballs, there was this matter of the outfield wall that got in the way. Unlike with this guy, the walls won out.
• New York (NL)'s best chance to get back into the game was the 7th inning, when they got runners on the corners with just one out. But Carlos Beltran struck out and Jason Bay weakly popped out to end the threat. Terry Collins has talked about moving Jason into the 2-hole to get him out of his slump; I say he should try just about anything right now. Since his triumphant weekend return in April, he's managed just 1 home run and 4 RBIs. Something's got to be done because we're not paying this guy $100 million to hit .658 OPS.

The Good Stuff:

• The Mets jumped out to an early lead, going up 2-0 in the 1st. Bay managed a sac fly and Justin Turner brought home one more on a single. With his RBI streak up to 7 games, Turner has broken Ron Swoboda's 1965 rookie record.
• Carlos Beltran brought home the Mets' 3rd run in the 5th on a single, his 25th RBI of the year. All-in-all, the Amazin's did much better with RISP, getting 3 hits in 8 at-bats.
• Jose Reyes had the best offensive game, going 3-5 and scoring 2 runs. Daniel Murphy once again used Yankee Stadium to break out of his slump, going 2-4 and scoring the other run.
• Pedro Beato continued his red-hot start from the bullpen, relieving Capuano in the 6th and delivering 1 2/3 scoreless innings. His ERA still stands at a spotless 0.00.

Final Analysis:
I think this is the kind of game Mets fans expected going into the Stadium: a slugfest. Unfortunately, on this night, they couldn't keep up. The loss drops the orange and blue back under .500, which doesn't look so bad when you consider how things were a month ago.

It also sets up a crucial rubber match with the Yanks tomorrow afternoon. In addition to .500, the Mets will seek their 5th straight series win (that lone loss to Florida doesn't count). Oh, and there's also the matter of Big Apple bragging rights. Needless to say, this one's big.

MM