Mets 5, Yankees 1
NEW YORK -- Lucas Duda, Daniel Murphy and Juan Uribe all homered Friday night and left-handed pitcher Steven Matz remained unbeaten as a major leaguer by throwing six solid innings as the New York Mets beat the New York Yankees 5-1 in the opener of the latest regular season Subway Series ever between the big city rivals at Citi Field.
The Mets (84-63) snapped a two-game losing streak while the Yankees (80-66) fell 4 1/2 games behind Toronto in the American League East by virtue of the Blue Jays' 6-1 win over the Boston Red Sox on Friday.
Duda, the Mets' first baseman, and Murphy, the second baseman, hit tying and go-ahead solo homers in the second and sixth innings, respectively, off Yankees right-hander Masahiro Tanaka. Uribe hit a pinch-hit two-run homer in the seventh before Eric Young -- pinch-running for Murphy, who tripled -- raced home on a wild pitch with one out in the eighth.
The homer by Murphy put Matz (4-0) in line for the win. Matz allowed one run -- on a first-inning sacrifice fly by left fielder Chris Young -- on seven hits and one walk while striking out four over six innings.
Right-hander Jeurys Familia, pitching in a non-save situation, loaded the bases with one out in the ninth but retired left fielder Brett Gardner on a fly out to left
Matz, who grew up about an hour east of Citi Field on Long Island, labored early in front of a spirited, bipartisan sellout crowd of 43,602. Matz issued a leadoff walk to Gardner, who went to third on right fielder Carlos Beltran's broken bat single to right. Gardner scored easily on Young's fly to center. The 24-year-old ended up throwing 22 pitches in the first and 21 more in the second.
The Mets tied it in the bottom of the second, when Duda snapped a homer drought of 66 at-bats by hitting a shot off the signage on the second deck in right field.
Tanaka wriggled out of a two-on, two-out jam in the fourth and was one strike away from escaping the sixth with the score tied when Murphy homered off the bullpen roof in right-center field.
Tanaka (12-7) allowed two runs on five hits and no walks while striking out four over six innings.
NOTES: Prior to this season, the latest regular season Subway Series took place July 9-11, 1999, at Shea Stadium. The Mets and Yankees first opposed each other this season at Yankee Stadium from Apr. 24-26, which is also the earliest Subway Series in history. ... The first pitch was thrown out by John Franco, who racked up a team-record 276 saves for the Mets. ... Mets LHP Dario Alvarez (groin) went to the team's spring training complex in Florida to begin rehabbing. Manager Terry Collins said Alvarez, who was injured Tuesday, would not pitch again during the regular season. ... Yankees CF Jacoby Ellsbury, who is mired in a 3-for-38 slump, didn't start but flew out as a pinch-hitter in the seventh, remained in the game and finished 1-for-2. ... Yankees LF Chris Young batted cleanup for the first time since Sept. 26. 2014.