The New York Mets were one good throw away from potentially sending their Sunday night game against the New York Yankees to the top of the ninth inning tied. Instead, first baseman Pete Alonso air-mailed an attempted play at home plate, which opened the floodgates for an 8-2 Yankees lead by the end of the eighth.
Alonso made a clean play on an infield swing from Yankees nine-hole hitter Jorbit Vivas and tried to throw home for a force out on designated hitter Jasson Domínguez . But Alonso’s throw sailed well over the head of Mets catcher Francisco Alvarez. Dominguez slid in safely to give the Yankees a 3-2 lead.
“It was hit straight to me and there was a tag play at home,” Alonso said when speaking with reporters after the game. “I just made an awful throw. I mean that whole inning, this game, it’s on me. I mean, after that throw, the momentum got out of hand and they had really good at-bats. This one’s on me.”
Alonso’s error also allowed Yankees catcher Austin Wells to advance to third. All of this came with just one out on the board. In the next at-bat, Yankees first baseman Paul Goldschmidt roped a single to center, allowing Wells to score.
Then, after a Trent Grisham walk to load the bases and an Aaron Judge strikeout for the second out of the inning, Cody Bellinger hit a 356-foot grand slam to right field that cleared the bases and gave the Yankees their decisive 8-2 lead. The Mets were unable to do any damage in the top of the ninth and the Yankees walked out with a Subway Series win against their cross-town rivals.
“It was just a game of a couple little instances,” Alonso said. “It’s a game of inches. I think today it just came down to one play and that’s me messing that one up because I think if we get out of that inning I feel like we give ourselves a good chance to win that ball game.”
Sunday’s game was a microcosm of the defensive woes that have plagued the Mets all season. In the first inning, third baseman Mark Vientos fumbled the ball on an attempted throw to first base and committed an error that allowed Goldschmidt to reach safely on an otherwise routine out. That error, and a Judge ground rule double, allowed Goldschmidt to cross home on a Bellinger double and the Yankees exited the top of the first with a 2-0 lead.
The Mets have committed 24 errors, which is tied for 12th-most in the league.