Pete Alonso, Mets too much to bear as Justin Verlander blanks Yankees – The Denver Post

After splitting two games at Citi Field in June, the Mets opened the Subway Series’ sequel at Yankee Stadium with a 9-3 win on Tuesday.

Pete Alonso fueled the Mets offense with his first two home runs since July 6. The first, a three-run blast in the third inning, came after Francisco Lindor doubled on a ball that hung in the air for a while before falling in front of a sliding Billy McKinney. The play had an expected batting average of .030, but it nonetheless led to a hit before Jeff McNeil walked and Alonso went deep.

“I’m just really happy that today was an excellent day,” said Alonso, who hit .171 over 12 games between homers. “Every game is important. It doesn’t matter who is playing. The Subway Series is a big deal, but it doesn’t matter if we’re playing the Yankees, the Red Sox, the Nationals or whoever else because right now, we’re at a point in the season when all wins matter. It doesn’t matter who is over there. I’m just really happy that I was able to help the team win today.”

Alonso, who hit a solo home run in the sixth, also picked up an RBI single in the first inning on a ball that dropped between McKinney and Harrison Bader. That play had an expected batting average of .050.

Bader said his “pre-pitch positioning” had him playing too far over in anticipation of a different result.

“They both just broke a step back,” Aaron Boone said. “They didn’t read it right, so it falls in there.”

The Mets added to their lead when Daniel Vogelbach followed Alonso’s second dinger with one of his own. McNeil then drove one home with a single in the seventh and two more with a double in the ninth.

Domingo Germán surrendered six earned runs over just as many innings despite striking out nine. He had a hard time getting on the same page with Kyle Higashioka, as the pitcher shook his catcher off several times.

“Just trying to find good rhythm there for the game,” Germán said, “but things like that really don’t matter as long as you keep your focus.”

Germán, who owns a 7.12 ERA over his last seven starts despite throwing a perfect game during that stretch, added that he has not thought about who the odd man out of the Yankees’ rotation will be once the rehabbing Nestor Cortes returns. Boone said before Tuesday’s game that a six-man rotation is not something he envisions using.

While Germán struggled, Justin Verlander continued his dominance over the Yankees. The veteran right-hander permitted just two hits while blanking the Bombers for six innings.

Verlander totaled six strikeouts, but he also walked four. Still, the Yankees couldn’t score off the 40-year-old, who now has a 3.07 ERA over 34 career starts against the team.

“He had his way with us,” Boone said. “His slider was really good. Everything kind of worked off of that. He was able to slow us down with the breaking ball but allowed his fastball to really play.

“I definitely thought he was sharp and really beat us up tonight.”

The Yankees finally plated a run in the seventh when Anthony Volpe hit an RBI double. Giancarlo Stanton then smoked a ball to right field with the bases loaded, but he only got a run-scoring sacrifice fly out of it before Anthony Rizzo struck out with runners on the corners to end the inning.

A Ben Rortvedt grounder gave the Yankees another score on a fielder’s choice in the eighth, but the runs proved too little, too late for an offense that had hoped to maintain momentum after sweeping an awful Royals team over the weekend. But the Mets — while major disappointments this season — and Verlander proved to be more of a challenge for a lineup that has sputtered without Aaron Judge.

The Mets, meanwhile, caught a break after an Albert Abreu pitch hit Francisco Alvarez in his left middle finger. X-rays came back negative for an unconcerned Alvarez, who actually struck out on the pitch.

“I’m not really feeling too much right now,” he said after the game. “Maybe at five percent.”

The New York City rivals will conclude their season series on Wednesday when Carlos Rodón faces fellow southpaw José Quintana.

Rodón is coming off the worst start of his young Yankees career, as he allowed six earned runs to the Angels on July 19. He also blew a kiss to jeering fans during the game, a move that irritated some before the pitcher admitted that he let his emotions get the best of him.

While that was Rodón’s third start as a Yankee after injuries delayed the offseason signing’s debut, Quintana has only made one start for the Mets due to bone graft surgery to remove a benign tumor on his rib. Quintana, a winter addition for the Mets, pitched well in his debut on July 20, holding the White Sox to two earned runs over five innings.

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