NEW YORK (AP) — Clay Holmes pitched out of a bases-loaded jam in the eighth inning and the New York Yankees stormed back from four runs down against Max Scherzer to beat the skidding New York Mets 7-6 in their wild Subway Series opener Tuesday night at Citi Field.
Giancarlo Stanton and DJ LeMahieu homered off Scherzer, and pinch-hitter Josh Donaldson drove in the tiebreaking run with a sacrifice fly in the sixth after Brandon Nimmo misplayed a ball in center field.
Before the seventh, reliever Drew Smith became the second Mets pitcher ejected this season for using an illegal foreign substance.
Nimmo hit his eighth career leadoff homer and Jeff McNeil had a two-run single for the Mets (31-36), who have lost nine of 10. They opened a 5-1 lead in the third with the help of two second-inning balks by struggling Yankees starter Luis Severino, only to see Scherzer give up five runs and six hits in the fourth.
LeMahieu's two-run homer trimmed it to 5-3, slumping rookie Anthony Volpe had an RBI double and Jake Bauers' two-run bloop single over a drawn-in infield chased Scherzer and gave the Yankees a 6-5 lead.
The three-time Cy Young Award winner was booed by Mets fans in the sellout crowd of 43,707 who showed up to see the first meeting between the teams this season — missing injured sluggers Aaron Judge and Pete Alonso.
Luis Guillorme's two-out RBI single tied it in the fifth, ending Severino's night.
The Mets loaded the bases with one out in the eighth. Holmes entered and struck out cleanup batter Francisco Lindor with a sinker in a seven-pitch at-bat and Starling Marte on a slider in an eight-pitch encounter to preserve the one-run lead.
Michael King worked a 1-2-3 ninth for his fourth save. Ron Marinaccio (3-3) pitched a scoreless inning for the win.
Josh Walker (0-1) gave up Billy McKinney's infield single to start the sixth and a double by Volpe that should have been caught by Nimmo.
Smith never even threw a pitch. As he entered the game, he was stopped by umpires in the infield for a routine check. Within moments, several umpires and teammates were huddled around the right-hander, and Mets manager Buck Showalter joined the discussion.
Smith was holding out his pitching hand pleading his case, but was ejected by first base umpire Bill Miller, the crew chief. Smith likely faces a 10-game suspension, a significant blow to a thin and shaky Mets bullpen.
Scherzer served a 10-game suspension after his April 19 ejection at Dodger Stadium f or having a sticky foreign substance on his hand. He claimed it was simply a mix of sweat and rosin, nothing illegal.
TRAINER'S ROOM
Yankees: CF Harrison Bader (hamstring) took batting practice and went through another full workout. He is scheduled to play a rehab game Wednesday for Double-A Somerset and then hopes to come off the injured list and return to the lineup Friday night at Boston.
Mets: LHP José Quintana (rib surgery) was scheduled to throw two innings in his first rehab outing for Class A St. Lucie. Quintana has been sidelined all season. ... 1B Pete Alonso (bruised and sprained left wrist) took grounders and did some running. Showalter hinted Alonso could return sooner than the initial estimate of three to four weeks.
UP NEXT
The two-game series concludes Wednesday night with Yankees ace Gerrit Cole (7-1, 2.84 ERA) facing former Houston teammate Justin Verlander (2-3, 4.85) in a marquee pitching matchup.
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