Subway Series Recap: Second Series Is Mirror Image To First Series

What made the subway series great this year was the fact that both the Yankees and Mets have legitimate possibilities to play October baseball.

One may not have said that about the Mets at the start of the season, but due to a recent surge, they have claimed possession over the National League Wild Card and appear to only approve due to speculated July trades (for Cliff Lee, perhaps?) and the return of Carlos Beltran.

The Yankees are and will be throughout the rest of the season favorites to repeat as World Champions.  They have arguably the best starting rotation in baseball and own baseball's best record despite prolonged slumps from key players (Mark Teixeira and Alex Rodriguez in particular) and injuries to others (Jorge Posada and Curtis Granderson).

So when the teams first met in May, it can be argued that they were both struggling.  The previous Tuesday, the Yankees had completed what was probably their best win of the season in a ninth-inning comeback against the Red Sox.  But following that date, the Yankees lost three in a row to the aforementioned Red Sox and the Tampa Bay Rays, all due to poor pitching.

The Mets had also completed a terrible road trip, which included a four-game sweep at the hands of the Marlins and a loss on a walk-off error.  To top it off, buzz around the team very much believed that if the team didn't turn it around, manager Jerry Manuel would be chucked out.

In the first game of the Subway Series, Hisanori Takahashi and Javier Vazquez met in what many believed would result in a slugfest.  Takahashi was making his first starting appearance and Javier Vazquez (aside from a 2-run performance in Detroit) had struggled with a capital S, posting an ERA hovering around 9.00.

But both pitchers surprised us, passing zeros across the board until the seventh inning, when newcomer Yankee Kevin Russo laced a two-run double down the right-field line.  The Mets would rally with two outs in the ninth against Mariano Rivera with back-to-back doubles by Jason Bay and Ike Davis, but the rally would fall short as David Wright grounded out with the tying run on second.

In the second game, Pelfrey vs. Hughes, David Wright began to turn his ship in the right directions, driving in three runs with two outs.  After being staked to a five-run lead, Pelfrey didn't waver, and Phil Hughes continued to struggle, giving up four runs in total in less than 6 innings.  The Yankees rallied in the ninth, but K-Rod struck out Francisco Cervelli with the tying run at first to end it.

In the third game, the touted duel between Johan Santana and CC Sabathia, Sabathia got punished by the home-run ball (by Jason Bay in particular) and ended up with a six-run deficit by the end of 5 innings.  Santana wavered but did not break, and the duel never materialized.  But again, the Yankees rallied, cutting the score to 6-4, but in a classic battle of All-stars, K-Rod struck out A-Rod on a 3-2 changeup to end it.

Flash ahead a month.  Since that point, both teams have turned it around.  The Yankees, with Posada and Granderson back, finally caught up with the Rays for first place in the AL East and, despite two consecutive losses to the Phillies in which their bats turned cold, appeared to be in decent shape.

The Mets turnaround is probably more amazing.  Since May 22nd, they had an 18-5 record going into the second round of the series (the best in the majors), they seemed to finally solve their road woes, and their starting rotation of Santana, Pelfrey, Jonathan Niese, RA Dickey, and Takahashi has materialized into one of the best in the National League (at least for now).

Cue the first game of the second round: a rematch between Takahashi and Vazquez.  Now, Takahashi was pitching to solidify, not start, his position in the rotation.  And Vazquez was pitching as good as anyone lately, complete opposites to the scenario at Citi Field.

Nevertheless, everyone expected the Yankees to have "gone to school" on Takahashi, to have learned his methods, and to beat up on him in the game.  They didn't.  Staked to a 1-run lead in the 1st by David Wright sliding around the tag at home by Francisco Cervelli, Takahashi only got into serious trouble once, in the 6th, but wiggled out of it.  The Mets tacked on some insurance runs against the Yankee bullpen in the 8th and 9th thanks to Jose Reyes and Angel Pagan.

Again, the Yankees rallied.  Again, they forced Manuel to go to K-Rod for the save.  Again, they had the tying run at the plate in Nick Swisher.  But he popped it up. David Wright decided not to drop it, and the Mets took Game One of the series.  Like the series at Citi Field, both pitchers excelled, but this time Takahashi won the win he deserved, and Vazquez ended up the hard-luck loser.

Cue game 2, and the second rematch: Pelfrey vs. Hughes.  This time, it was Pelfrey who struggled, and Hughes who bent but did not break.  This time, it was Pelfrey who gave up a big hit to players who really needed the turnaround (Mark Teixeira and Curtis Granderson), and this time, it was Pelfrey who pitched one of his few bad outings and earned the loss, in, surprise, a 5-3 game, the same as it was at Citi Field, but resulting in a different victor.

Cue the final game of the subway series: Santana vs. Sabathia again.  And, surprise, it was a mirror image from Citi Field, again.  This time, it was Santana who got hurt by the long ball from a player who needed it (Mark Teixeira) and this time, it was Sabathia who shut the opposing team down and didn't allow them to score to lead his team to the victory.

In conclusion, the Subway Series has been, in one word, a series of mirror images.

Citi Field: Yankees come into series doing moderately well, but with a recent slide of poor pitching.

Yankee Stadium: Yankees come into series doing very well, but with a recent drop in hitting.

Citi Field: Mets come into the series 20-22, in the cellar of the NL East and with the managerial position in jeopardy.

Yankee Stadium: Mets come into the series on an 18-5 run, 0.5 games out of first place.

Citi Field: New starter Takahashi ends up without a victory (although he deserved it) and the struggling Vazquez earns a win in a close, low-scoring game, despite a late Mets rally.

Yankee Stadium: Solidified starter Takahashi earns the victory (despite a late Yankees rally) in a close, low-scoring game, and a successful Vazquez ends up the hard-luck loser.

Citi Field: Hughes gets hurt by a player who needs a turnaround (David Wright) and struggles, while Pelfrey remains solid and steers the Mets to a 5-3 win.

Yankee Stadium: Pelfrey gets hurt by players who need turnarounds (Mark Teixeira and Curtis Granderson), while Hughes bends but doesn't break in a 5-3 Yankees win.

Citi Field: Sabathia is punished by the long ball of a player who needs a turnaround (Jason Bay) and Santana continually pitches into and out of trouble.

Yankee Stadium: Santana is punished by the long ball (a Mark Teixeira grand slam) and Sabathia gets the Mets to go 0-for-10 with runners on base.

Citi Field: The Yankees score 9 runs in total.  The Mets score 12.

Yankee Stadium: The Yankees score the same 9 runs.  But the Mets only score 7.

Who knows what will happened down the stretch.  Who knows if any of these two teams will reach the playoffs.  But we do know this:  The teams are both solid, they both have a chance.  And an eventful and entertaining Subway Series is now over in a tie of 3-3, the result of a cache of opposites.