Mets Rally To Avoid Sweep, Beat Yankees 3-2
NEW YORK (AP) — Pinch-hitter Ronny Paulino came through with a tying single off Mariano Rivera, Jason Bay drove home the winning run in the 10th inning and the feisty New York Mets ended the Yankees' seven-game winning streak with a 3-2 victory Sunday.
Playing without an ailing Jose Reyes, the Mets were shut down by Freddy Garcia for seven innings before rallying against Rivera in the ninth to avoid a Subway Series sweep at Citi Field.
With two outs and nobody on in the ninth, Bay walked on a full-count pitch. He went to third on Lucas Duda's single and scored the tying run when Paulino punched a 1-2 delivery through the right side.
Rivera, selected for his 12th All-Star team earlier in the day, dropped his head on the mound after his fourth blown save in 25 chances this season.
Ruben Tejada then hit a sharp grounder that scooted under the glove of fill-in shortstop Ramiro Pena for an error, and Duda tried to score from second. With fans of both teams in a frenzy, left fielder Brett Gardner came up throwing and cut down Duda at the plate to send the game to extra innings.
Pinch-hitter Scott Hairston drew a leadoff walk from Luis Ayala (1-2) in the 10th and the Mets loaded the bases when Pena booted Daniel Murphy's slow grounder with two outs.
Hector Noesi entered to face Bay, who lined an 0-1 pitch into right-center for a single. Hairston raised his fist as he crossed the plate and Bay, stuck in a two-year slump since signing a $66 million contract with the Mets, was mobbed by teammates on the infield.
Francisco Rodriguez (2-2) pitched two scoreless innings for the win.
Gardner tripled off Jason Isringhausen in the eighth and scored on a sacrifice fly by All-Star starter Curtis Granderson, giving the Yankees a 2-1 lead.
Reyes sat out as the Mets anxiously awaited MRI results on his injured leg. The speedy shortstop, elected by fans to start for the National League in the All-Star game July 12, left Saturday's loss after two innings with tightness in his left hamstring.
Manager Terry Collins said after the win that Reyes had the most mild form of a strain.
The Mets were hit with another injury when knuckleballer R.A. Dickey was pulled because of tightness in his buttocks.
Rain fell much of the morning and the start was pushed back by 89 minutes, though it hardly drizzled during the delay. Yankees manager Joe Girardi intercepted the umpires as they walked out onto the field and engaged them in a discussion that lasted a few minutes.
By the time Dickey was ready to go, Garcia had just begun to walk in from the bullpen. So everyone waited while Garcia crossed the outfield and Dickey took some extra warmup tosses.
Girardi also came out for a long argument after Russell Martin was tagged out in a seventh-inning rundown.
Mets All-Star Carlos Beltran doubled with two outs in the first and scored on Murphy's single.
The Yankees tied it in the fifth. Robinson Cano led off with a double for the first hit off Dickey, and Nick Swisher followed with an RBI single. An error by second baseman Justin Turner helped the Yankees load the bases, but Dickey escaped when Granderson grounded out on a full-count pitch.
Dickey crouched by the mound as Turner fielded the one-hopper and threw to first, perhaps breathing a sigh of relief. But the right-hander never threw another pitch.
He was lifted for a pinch-hitter in the bottom of the inning and the Mets later announced that Dickey slipped on a fourth-inning pitch and felt tightness over his left glute.
Beltran barely missed a line-drive homer in the sixth when it hooked foul.
NOTES: The Yankees optioned rookie RHP Ivan Nova to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre to open a spot in the rotation for RHP Phil Hughes, just about ready to come off the disabled list. Nova is 8-4 with a 4.12 ERA in 17 games, 16 starts. He has won four straight decisions, including a 5-1 victory in the series opener Friday night. ... RHP Lance Pendleton was recalled from Scranton/Wilkes-Barre to provide a fresh arm in the bullpen. ... Pena started in place of Eduardo Nunez, held out with a tight right hamstring. Nunez, subbing for injured Derek Jeter, was 7 for 8 with a homer and three doubles in the first two games of the series. ... Jeter was scheduled to play his second rehab game Sunday night for Double-A Trenton, weather permitting. He is expected to rejoin the Yankees on Monday in Cleveland. ... Beltran earned his sixth All-Star selection.
