The 2015 Subway Series is even-Steven.
After watching the Yankees win two of three games in The Bronx earlier this season, the Mets unleashed rookie Steven Matz on Friday and received the kind of pitching boost they had been missing in recent days.
Matz overcame early shakiness and fired six strong innings in the Mets’ 5-1 victory before 43,602 at Citi Field that dealt a blow to their cross-town rival’s AL East title chances.
The Yankees fell 4 ½ games behind the Blue Jays — who defeated the Red Sox — while the Mets’ magic number to clinch the NL East shrunk to eight, with the Nationals beating the Marlins.
Matz, in his third start since returning from the disabled list, lasted six innings and allowed one earned run on seven hits with one walk and four strikeouts over 102 pitches. The lefty remains in contention for the Mets’ postseason rotation, but also could end up in the bullpen depending on need.
“Early on I was scuffling — I was falling behind guys,” Matz said. “But ultimately we got the win tonight and that’s all that matters.”
Juan Uribe’s pinch-hit, two-run homer in the seventh against Chasen Shreve gave the Mets the cushion they needed on a night when Hansel Robles, Addison Reed and Jeurys Familia pitched three scoreless innings of relief. The Yankees loaded the bases against Familia in the ninth, but did not score.
“It seemed like from the first pitch on, the energy and electricity engulfed the stadium,” David Wright said. “It was a lot of fun.”
The Mets scored a final run in the eighth when reliever James Pazos unloaded a wild pitch that allowed pinch-hitter Eric Young Jr. to come home from third following Daniel Murphy’s triple.
Murphy hammered a hanging slider from Masahiro Tanaka for a solo homer in the sixth that gave the Mets a 2-1 lead. It was just the latest big hit for Murphy, who smashed a three-run, game-tying homer in the ninth inning Sunday in Atlanta.
Matz allowed two hits in the sixth — including an infield single to Didi Gregorius, on which Wilmer Flores was slow making the play — before retiring Brendan Ryan to keep the score 1-1. Yankees manager Joe Girardi defended his decision not to use Alex Rodriguez as a pinch-hitter in that spot.
“If the bases were loaded I would use him, but I can’t because there is a base open and they would pitch around him,” Girardi said. “That is the problem and you don’t want to waste the at-bat.”
Rodriguez entered as a pinch-hitter in the ninth and walked against Familia.
The Mets struggled to get momentum going against Tanaka after Lucas Duda’s solo homer in the second inning.
Tanaka pitched six innings and surrendered two earned runs on five hits with four strikeouts. It was the third straight start in which the Yankees ace allowed two earned runs or fewer.
Duda hit a rocket into the right-field seats that made it 1-1. The blast was Duda’s 22nd of the season and snapped his string of 66 at-bats without a homer, dating to Aug. 2.
Chris Young’s sacrifice fly in the first gave the Yankees a 1-0 lead. Matz walked Brett Gardner leading off the game, then allowed a soft single to Carlos Beltran before the sacrifice fly. Greg Bird singled with two outs in the inning, but Matz escaped further trouble by retiring John Ryan Murphy.
Ryan and Gardner each singled in the second, but Matz escaped trouble by retiring Chase Headley.
“From about the third inning on I thought [Matz’s] stuff got better,” Mets manager Terry Collins said. “His command got a little better. I was a little concerned about the pitch count and I just thought it was real important he gave us six innings tonight and fortunately he settled down a little bit and got us through that.”