By Grant Halpern
The Mets had begun August in first place of the NL East and ended the month in third after holding that first place spot for nearly the entire season. Many fans credit this fall off to many injuries including star pitcher Jacob Degrom and Francisco Lindor. Lindor made a quick return with the injury being light but degrom is yet to return to full-time play.
It is safe to say the Yankees have had a significantly better second half compared to the Mets at one point winning 13 games straight. With All-stars Giancarlo Stanton and Aaron Judge both having standout performances in the batter’s box. The Mets took the first subway series back in august 2-1 and were looking to win again and hopefully build momentum for the last stretch of the 2021 season.
This series took place on both a somber yet exciting weekend. Having both New York teams play on the weekend of 9/11 united the two fan bases and teams. The Mets won Friday’s night game 10-3 after a huge 3rd run rally and missed tag by Yankees catcher Gary Sanchez. Saturday’s game is where the drama began…
Both teams stood staggered yet united for the national anthem that afternoon, which marked 20 years since the horrible events that took place on 9/11/2001. The Yankees took this game 7-6, led by Aaron Judge’s two clutch home runs, and an error from Mets infielder, Javier Baez, sealed the deal. On Saturday Mets players believed to discover that the Yankees dugout had figured out that pitcher Taiijuan Walker was tipping pitches and were then whistling signs to batters. Mets’ third baseman, Jonathan Villar took his suspicion so far as to even call a mound meeting during Saturday’s game during Aaron Judge’s at-bat because he believed the dugout was whistling signs to him.
During Sunday’s game, in which the Mets won 7-6, things between the teams took a turn for the worse. After Lindor hit his second home run of the night during the 6th inning to put the Mets up 6-4 he made whistling gestures towards the Yankees dugout. The very next inning Stanton went yard with a 2 run bomb that tied the game. His slow trot around the bases and some words to Francisco Lindor resulted in both benches and bullpens clearing. The players exchanged a few words but ultimately returned to their dugouts and continued the game. Ultimately it was Francisco Lindor who could walk away grinning as he launched his third homer of the night to seal the Mets’ victory.
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