Yankees receive present from heaven – the hapless Mets

The Yankees are still on good terms with the Gods of Baseball. Sandwiched in-between two series with the Red Sox, the Yankees are handed four games with the hapless Mets. If this doesn’t do it for the Bombers, nothing will.

The Yankees were a deflated team on Sunday night when the Boston Red Sox snatched a come from behind victory and a series win. Their closer, Aroldis Chapman, had given the game away and the team had fallen to 5.5 games behind in the AL East Division.

But the scheduling Gods had one last gift to give the struggling Yankees by arranging for this year’s Subway Series to be played this week in-between another Red Sox series scheduled for the coming weekend in Boston.

And while many of us labeled both Red Sox series as do or die for the Pinstripes, this one against the Mets is a more proper fitting for that context. Because, after all, if the Yankees can’t sweep the Mets, who can they beat?

A Hapless Franchise

It’s easy to pick on the Mets and I’ve said it for years. The Mets are a sorry excuse for a major league franchise. They sabotaged their entire starting rotation in 2015. They haven’t learned how to deal with injuries. They’re the stingiest team in baseball. Their ownership is still reeling from their escapades with Bernie Madoff.

The Mets are also the franchise that had the wisdom to sign Bobby Bonilla to a contract which pays him a cool million dollars every July through 2030. The last time Bonilla wore a Mets uniform was in 1999. It’s endless.

But fittingly, the Yankees took care of business last night, taking the first game from the Metsies, as Casey Stengel used to call his team by a score of 4-2. And as a bonus, the Indians took care of the Red Sox and the Yankees are now back to where they started last Friday, 4.5 games from first place.

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Loading up on the Mets bullpen following a surprisingly good start by Rafael Montero, the  Mets version of Michael Pineda, the Yankees smashed three home runs to put the game away. Aaron Judge, Gary Sanchez, and Aaron Hicks all connected in a show of power that’s been missing in action of late.

Luis Cessa turned in a good effort but was forced to leave the game early with what’s being called a “right rhomboid” injury. He’ll have an MRI today and the injury is not considered serious.

The bullpen came in and did the job the rest of the way, minus Chapman. Setting what hopefully is a precedent, Joe Girardi played pin the tail on the donkey, selecting Dellin Betances to close out the game. Betances responded with his seventh save of the season.

Opportunity Knocks

Tonight’s game will make all the difference in how the series ends up. Sonny Gray, winless in his first two starts as a Yankee, draws Jacob deGrom, the Lone Ranger of the Mets starting staff.

Gray has pitched well, but it’s time to see some length from him allowing the bullpen some breathing room. deGrom (13-5) has been superb throughout the season and has accounted for 25 percent of his teams wins.

The tandem of Judge, Hicks, and Sanchez can’t be overestimated as a source of run production for the Yankees. With Matt Holliday probably gone forever, and Starlin Castro taking what seems like forever to come back from his injury, the team needs the trio more than ever.

Next: Girardi Must Come To Terms With Chapman's Failings

And in case you’re wondering, Judge did strike out twice last night creeping ever closer to the record set by Adam Dunn which we don’t want to talk about.

The next three games should be well in hand by the Yankees. Should be, that is.