Mark Vientos homers twice as Mets hang on for 9-7 win over Yankees in Subway Series opener

The Mets hung on for a 9-7 victory over the Yankees at Citi Field on Tuesday night in the first game of this part of the Subway Series.

For the Mets it was their 10th win in their last 12 games as they moved to within one game of the .500 mark.

Here are the takeaways…

1. The Yankees rallied for five runs in the eighth inning, four of them on Aaron Judge’s grand slam off Reed Garrett, but Garrett pitched a scoreless ninth for the Mets to hold on for the save.  That eighth inning shined a light on the Mets’ lack of depth in the bullpen in the wake of Edwin Diaz’s suspension for using sticky stuff in Chicago on Sunday night.

Carlos Mendoza used three relievers in the eighth, Adam Ottavino, Danny Young, and then Reed. He gave Ottavino a quick hook after he walked Trent Grisham, a no-no with such a big lead. The Mets really need Ottavino, who has slumped lately, to be more dependable, especially with Diaz out.

2. Mark Vientos led the charge offensively with two home runs in his first two at-bats against Gerrit Cole, pulling an inside fastball over the wall in left in the second inning and then going with an outside fastball to right-center in the fourth inning.

Combined with his eighth-inning bomb to center in Wrigley Field on Sunday night, Vientos hit home runs in three consecutive at-bats before grounding out against Phil Bickford in the fifth inning.

Vientos now has nine home runs this season in only 129 plate appearances. He has a whopping .581 slugging percentage and a .933 OPS.

3. A high pitch count kept David Peterson from going deep into the game, as five walks caught up with him, but he made big pitches when he had to as he held the Yankees to one run over 4.1 innings and did it in dominant fashion at times with eight strikeouts.

Most impressively, the left-hander escaped a bases-loaded, no-out jam in the first inning with three strikeouts, getting Gleyber Torres and Alex Verdugo swinging, then ending the inning by getting JD Davis looking at a 93 mph fastball on the outside corner.

For the night, Peterson threw 103 pitches and lowered his ERA to 3.67, the only run he allowed coming on a Juan Soto home run.

4. Remember when the Mets looked feeble offensively? It wasn’t that long ago, but with nine more runs on Tuesday they continue to look like a juggernaut lately. They’ve won 10 of their last 12 games and in those 10 wins they’ve scored 64 runs.

They hit four home runs against Cole, with Brandon Nimmo and Harrison Bader going deep as well as the two from Vientos. J.D. Martinez and Francisco Lindor added doubles, and even Jeff McNeil got his slumping bat going with two hits.

5. Dedniel Nunez was the unsung hero of the ballgame. He came on to relieve Peterson with one out in the fifth, runners at first and second and the game not out of reach at 5-1. With one pitch, a 96 mph fastball, he escaped the inning, Davis grounded into a routine 5-4-3 double play.

Nunez stayed in and pitched two more innings, giving up one run on Judge’s RBI double in the seventh. The right-hander, with a 2.53 ERA, continues to be a major contributor in the bullpen since being called up from the minors last month.

6. The Yankees have to wonder if Gerrit Cole came back a little too quickly after his delayed start to the season. He looked OK in his first start last week against the Orioles, limited to 62 pitches, but his velocity was down a bit by the second inning against the Mets, and he wound up giving up four home runs before getting pulled after four innings.

He also didn’t seem to have his sharp slider or his usual command, as he issued four walks as well. For the night he gave up six runs and his ERA ballooned to 9.00.

Game MVP: Mark Vientos

He delivered the big blows early to help the Mets build their big lead and knock Cole out after four innings.

More to the point, Vientos appears to be blossoming into quite a force at the plate. In addition to his power, he has improved his plate discipline, not chasing pitches so much. So while he struggled to put balls in play last year, he’s hitting .297 with a .349 on-base percentage to go with his nine home runs.

Highlights

What’s Next

The Mets and Yankees finish up their two-game set at Citi Field on Wednesday. First pitch is scheduled for 7:10 p.m.

Sean Manaea (4-3, 4.16 ERA) is on the mound for the Mets and Luis Gil (9-2, 2.77 ERA) will be on the bump for the Yanks.