Yankees earn reset after splitting Subway Series against Mets, snap six-game losing streak

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NEW YORK — Here were the Yankees at their best: the lineup smashing homers and doubles early, the ace and bullpen surviving a rocky middle, the fielders making clutch, heady plays to save the day. After a week in the wilderness, the Yankees found their way to the clearing of Monday’s off day.

They are bruised but breathing.

“A day like today is important to get through and shake hands, win, hang on,” manager Aaron Boone said after winning the series finale – though not the series – over the Mets at Citi Field. “A handful of guys do some really good things in that game, whether it be defensively, whether it be out of the bullpen. Those are meet-the-moment kind of things.”

They met the Mets six times this season and fought to a draw. The 6-4 win on Sunday followed six consecutive losses that knocked the Yankees from first place in the AL East. The Mets are in second place, too, but closer to the top than the Yankees. As usual, they hope to meet again.

“They’ve been one of the toughest teams we’ve faced all year,” said Aaron Judge, who lashed his 32nd homer on Sunday. “Hopefully looking forward to seeing them down the road.”

ALL RISE!

Aaron Judge has left the yard 💪 pic.twitter.com/ljhzwWFVfJ

— MLB (@MLB) July 6, 2025

Judge connected off the Mets’ Brandon Waddell, a lefty wearing No. 82 and now playing for his fifth team in six seasons. He also faced, among others, Zach Pop (four teams) and Rico Garcia (six teams). They were both making their Mets debuts, as Jayvien Sandridge (four MLB organizations) did for the Yankees on Saturday.

These aren’t the names you’re likely to see in October, but they illustrate the slog it is for teams to get there. The Yankees and Mets, like so many others around baseball, are feeling the impact of injured starters and overworked relievers. Fresh arms, served up daily from the farm. Pity the traveling secretaries.

The Yankees have taken the biggest blow lately, losing Clarke Schmidt to another serious elbow injury after his start in Toronto on Tuesday. Schmidt, who spun 28 2/3 consecutive scoreless innings in June, is probably facing his second Tommy John surgery. With the trade market still taking shape, reinforcements will first come from the minors – Cam Schlittler will debut on Tuesday or Wednesday, the New York Post’s Joel Sherman reported.

The uncertainty and mediocrity of the Yankees’ other starters makes every Max Fried game that much more important. Sunday’s start was Fried’s shortest since May – he left after hitting Brandon Nimmo with his first pitch of the sixth – but he still earned his 11th victory, the most in the majors.

Fried is here because the Yankees re-directed some of Juan Soto’s money his way ($218 million of it, for eight years) after Soto chose the Mets in free agency. The famously selective Soto fanned twice against Fried on Sunday, carved up in the fifth – with two on – by a sweeper in the dirt after three curveballs.

Fried followed by getting Pete Alonso to fly out to right on his 97th and penultimate pitch. After four smooth innings, Fried had to earn it against a lineup that entered Sunday’s game tied for the MLB lead (with the Yankees and Atlanta Braves) in pitches per plate appearance, at 3.95.

“It’s a deep lineup,” Fried said of the Mets. “You’ve got the top-of-the-order of guys that can really do damage. But every guy can get on base, they can base-run, they can do a lot of little things to be able to scratch off some runs or have the big inning, too. So you’ve got to be on top of it in all facets of the game, be able to move the ball around and hopefully get enough weak contact and get some quick outs, because they like to see a lot of pitches and grind you out.”

The Mets managed 10 hits on Sunday, but none for extra bases. The Yankees had homers from Judge and Austin Wells and doubles from Giancarlo Stanton, Paul Goldschmidt and Cody Bellinger, whose sliding catch-and-throw double play in the seventh was the highlight of the day. It all made you think that this can still be a dangerous team.

Another test awaits this week in the Bronx, where the Yankees will face two of the Seattle Mariners’ best starters – Logan Gilbert and Bryan Woo – in a three-game series, and then welcome the first-place Chicago Cubs before the All-Star break.

They earned a reset with a complete performance on Sunday. The Yankees didn’t have to win, not literally – but they kind of did.

“When things aren’t going well, that’s really what it’s going to take,” Goldschmidt said. “We’ve had games where we’ve lost 1-0. We’ve had higher-scoring games. We’ve kind of had everything. It wasn’t going to be easy – it’s not going to be easy this whole year – so if you can do all facets of the game well, you’re going to have a really good chance to win. And it took everything.”

(Photo: Justin Casterline / Getty Images)

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