The New York Mets have four members of their Opening Day lineup on the injured list and entered this week with the worst record in the majors.
The New York Yankees have spent every day this season in first or second place in the American League East and lead the AL in runs (223) and ERA (3.22).
Yet the Mets will be the team with the momentum Friday night when they host the Yankees in the first Subway Series clash of the season.
Clay Holmes (4-3, 1.86 ERA) is slated to start for the Mets against fellow right-hander Cam Schlittler (5-1, 1.35).
The Mets completed their first sweep of the season on Thursday afternoon when five players homered in a 9-4 rout of the visiting Detroit Tigers.
The Yankees have been off since Wednesday, when they were limited to one hit in a 7-0 loss to the host Baltimore Orioles in the rubber match of a three-game series. The Yankees have lost five of their past six games.
The Mets, sparked by newcomer A.J. Ewing and fellow rookie Carson Benge, overcame multi-run deficits in all three wins over the Tigers. They are 8-4 since a 2-15 stretch that included a 12-game losing streak from April 8-21.
Ewing, who made his big-league debut with a two-run triple, two walks and a stolen base Tuesday, collected two hits Thursday, including his first homer.
Benge, who was moved to the leadoff spot Tuesday, went 7-for-15 with two RBIs and two stolen bases in the series vs. Detroit.
Veteran Juan Soto had the go-ahead RBI single in the fifth inning and later homered as he provided the Mets a much-needed reminder that not all of their injury news is bad. Soto departed Wednesday’s game after fouling a ball off his right foot, but X-rays were negative.
Catcher Francisco Alvarez went on the injured list Wednesday with a torn right meniscus. Fellow Opening Day starter Francisco Lindor (left calf), Jorge Polanco (left Achilles) and Luis Robert Jr. (back) are out indefinitely.
“It was a start we didn’t want,” Soto said. “But it’s the right time to get hot.”
The Yankees are dealing with injury woes of their own during their first extended slump of the season. They are 2-6 since a 15-2 run.
All-Star left-hander Max Fried lasted just three innings Wednesday due to a sore left elbow and was scheduled to undergo imaging Thursday.
Shortstop Jose Caballero, whose fast start resulted in the demotion of Anthony Volpe once the latter recovered from offseason left shoulder surgery, was placed on the injured list Tuesday with a broken right middle finger.
Slugger Giancarlo Stanton, who suffered a strained right calf April 24, underwent imaging Monday that indicated the injury still is healing.
The Yankees opened and closed their road trip with shutout losses — to Milwaukee and Baltimore — and have scored three runs or less in each of their last six defeats.
“Not a great day,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. “Not a great way to end the trip.”
Holmes took the defeat in his most recent start last Saturday, allowing two runs over 5 2/3 innings in a 2-1 loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Schlittler didn’t factor into the decision Saturday after giving up just two hits over six scoreless innings in the Yankees’ 4-3, 10-inning loss to the Brewers.
Holmes has yet to face the Yankees, for whom he was a late-inning reliever from 2021 through 2024. Schlittler has yet to face the Mets.
–Field Level Media
