Mets Sweep Arizona, but deGrom Leaves Early

“Last year during the regular season, they beat us up,” Yankees Manager Aaron Boone said. “They’re obviously very good at preventing runs. They’ve got versatility in their lineup. So they’re a challenge, and you’ve got to play well if you’re going to beat them.”

Hand (2-1) entered in relief in the ninth with the score tied at 2-2, a day after he wasted ninth- and 10th-inning leads in the Yankees’ 4-3, 11-inning victory, a game Gleyber Torres won with a 50-foot, bases-loaded single.

Hand walked Tyler Wade on four pitches, putting his first batter aboard for the second straight day and then walked pinch-hitter Aaron Judge on a full count.

D.J. LeMahieu grounded to Starlin Castro, who Castro threw to second for a possible double play. LeMahieu beat second baseman Josh Harrison’s throw for first, leaving runners at the corners.

Stanton fell behind 1-2, took a slider in the dirt, then lined a high slider for the Yankees’ fifth hit of the game and his 24th R.B.I. this season. Stanton has seven career walk-off hits, including two for the Yankees.

The Yankees built a 2-0 lead on Aaron Hicks’s R.B.I. single in the third and Torres’ solo homer in the sixth, a 411-foot drive into the left-field bleachers. Torre had not homered in 136 plate appearances this season, and had not gone deep since Sept. 17, 2020, against Toronto.

“I’m just so happy to hit one for my mom,” said Torres, who recalled hitting three minor league homers on Mother’s Day. “Before I left the house, I told her, `I’ll do something for you.’”

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/09/sports/baseball/mets-sweep-arizona-diamondbacks-jacob-degrom.html