NEW YORK – After a brilliant championship debut through Deivi Garcia on the last night of Sunday, batter Gary Sanchez provided a proper reminder with a grand slam.
After a deep recession, Sanchez’s explosion allowed the Yankees to win a double sweep over the Mets at Yankee Stadium, where either game resulted in innings.
In Game 1, Aaron Hicks’ two-run tie ended a five-run seventh inning and led to an 8-7 victory.
After Garcia gave up an undeserved run in six sets in the moment game, Sanchez came off the bench in the eighth inning and joined Drew Smith for the Grand Slam of his career.
And the Yankees clung to a 5-2 win in the evening, winning the last three games of a five-game Subway series needed through COVID-19-related transfers last weekend at Citi Field.
The two games on Sunday were played in 8 rounds; The regulation two-title games are seven innings in 2020.
Called the Yankees’ “man 29” in doubles, Garcia, 21, allowed only four hits. The right did not base a batsman by balls, struck out six and used only 75 pitches.
Luke Voit’s box error in the sixth caused the Mets to run into him on an RBI single by Dom Smith.
“One of the things that stood out about him is the confidence he has in himself,” said Yankees manager Aaron Boone the previous Sunday. “You look at it, he’s very relaxed, very comfortable.”
And whether you’re facing adversity or not, “your habit doesn’t replace much,” Boone said. “He has a lot of talent and a lot of confidence in that ability.”
Sanchez’s extra entry Grand Slam is the first in Yankees history.
Hicks left Game 2 with cramps in his calves.
Before the game, Yankees ace Gerrit Cole gave his scouting report on Garcia: “Big curve, tricky fastball, and a very exclusive delivery that’s a laugh to watch.”
Boone “excited to see him pass by and compete” with a straight that had “life in the most sensitive area” with “very clever effects and sensations in his break shots.”
The key would be to maintain your crossfire delivery control.
“If he controls the ball in his lanes, he’ll throw well,” Boone said.
After five problems in their final at-bat, the Yankees had an impressive comeback from the first game, aided through the Mets’ pen.
When a scenario without a rescue turned into a critical moment, Hicks scored a two-out race against Edwin Diaz in a full field.
In the eighth, Gio Urshela’s bachelor with two outs over marked Mike Tauchman with the winning set, a play that survived video replay criticism.
“You don’t usually win a lot of those,” said Boone, who attributed a series of “battles,” adding that Luke Sees single from two points just before Hicks’ house.
“I have to be honest, I think we didn’t have a chance,” starter Michael King said of a winning rally that seriously opposed Jared Hughes with two strikeouts and one running back on purpose due to a pitching error.
After Tyler Wade walks and Thairo Estrada is hit with a pitch, “suddenly the table is ready for anything to happen,” Boone said.
Hicks had been “fighting lately,” Boone said. But on a full account, “it was still given to a radiator and made a smart swing at it.”
Tauchman, the designated running back, placed second, under the new 2020 overtime rule.
The Hicks who made the transfer were on a slide of 3 of 28 before completing their third home run of the year, hitting a line in the decline of empty seats to the right.
Urshela had not played since Wednesday due to a bone spur in his right elbow. He substituted in the game as a pinch hitter in the fifth inning.
And after losing the lead in his last two outings, allowing four runs, Chad Green hit the eighth.
By blocking the Mets’ inherited running back on base, Green fanned Amed Rosario, Dom Smith and Jake Marisnick, who had replaced slugger Pete Alonso on defense.
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Until the return of the seventh inning, Yankee Stadium had the look and feel of the Yankees’ trade field, without much promise.
At his start-of-career, King pitched well, but suffered a 100-cut death in the fourth inning, allowing two runs on five singles, neither of which was hit well by the Mets.
Next came Brooks Kriske and Ben Heller, and a close game quickly became a 7-2 Mets lead.
Kriske rescued King in the fourth, stranding the bases loaded with two out.
But the right-handed Kriske yielded ex-Yankee Robinson Cano’s go-ahead, two-run homer in the fifth and walked three batters in the sixth – all of which came around to score.
Michael Conforto’s two-run double off Heller seemed to put things out of reach, until the Mets’ bullpen imploded in the seventh.
For the Yankees, the first six innings had provided another reminder that they had 24 hours left to improve their pitching before Monday’s trade deadline.
“Clearly pitching is an area of focus for us, improving our rotation if possible,’’ as well as the bullpen, said Yankees general manager Brian Cashman this weekend.
Cashman said he’s “certainly engaged with the other teams, trying to determine what’s available’’ in what the GM termed as “a risky marketplace.’’
But deals are getting done, and the Yankees were crossing their fingers again, hoping to get a strong showing from promising rookie Deivi Garcia.
The right-handed Garcia was scheduled to make his MLB debut in Sunday’s nightcap, after the club’s split the first two games.
And don’t look now, but here come the AL East-leading Rays, arriving for a three-game series beginning Monday night at Yankee Stadium.
The Yankees are hoping to get key setup man Zack Britton back during the Rays’ series.
Sunday, the left-handed Britton was scheduled to throw his second bullpen session since landing on the 10-day injured list with a strained left hamstring.
A decision on Britton’s activation could come as early as Monday.
Pete Caldera is the Yankees beat writer for NorthJersey.com. For unlimited access to all Yankees analysis, news, trades and more, please subscribe today and download our app.
Email: [email protected] Twitter: @pcaldera