Schadenfreude 316 (A Continuing Series)

Dan Martin, Post, 10:52 PM ET:

The pitching was brutal, the fielding laughable and the bats once again silent in a 10-3 defeat to the Mets . . . as the Yankees lost their season-worst seventh straight to open the Subway Series. . . .

In losing for the 11th time in 13 games, the Yankees saw Jordan Montgomery allow a season-high seven runs in just 3⅓ innings.

But he was just one of the goats, as Gary Sanchez was miserable behind the plate and the infielders not much better. . . .

[In the bottom of the first, Jonathan Villar was on second with two outs.] Baez singled to left, where Joey Gallo fielded it and made a strong throw home. The throw easily beat Villar to the plate, but Sanchez froze and somehow missed the tag on the sliding Villar. . . .

It was a stunning mental and physical error that displayed what bad shape the Yankees have been in since the end of their 13-game winning streak that now seems to have happened three years ago rather than just two weeks ago. . . .

[T]he Mets rallied against Montgomery, scoring five runs in the bottom of the third.

Villar led off with a single and Francisco Lindor walked. Both runners advanced on a wild pitch before Conforto walked to load the bases with no one out. Another walk to Pete Alonso drove in Villar to tie the game again.

Baez then hit a sharp grounder to third that was stabbed by Gio Urshela. Urshela fired home, but the throw was wide. Sanchez tried to keep his foot on home plate instead of coming off to catch the ball and the ball got by him for a throwing error on Urshela.

With the bases still loaded and no one out, McNeil laid down a bunt between Montgomery and Rizzo that went for an RBI single and a 4-2 lead. Kevin Pillar’s sacrifice fly increased it to 5-2. A two-out double from James McCann put the Mets up, 6-2. . . .

A slow grounder to second [in the fourth] by Conforto was mishandled by LeMahieu, although it went for a hit. After Alonso sent one to the track in dead center for the second out, Baez doubled to the gap to drive in Conforto, thanks to another bad throw — this one by Gleyber Torres, from shallow right.

Torres followed that with yet another lazy play at short, when McCann hit what should have been an inning-ending double play in the seventh. Torres, however, airmailed the throw to first, which allowed another run to score.

Deesha Thosar, Daily News, 10:40 PM ET:

One ugly inning and several misplays from the Yankees was all the Mets needed to control the rest of the game and hand the Bronx Bombers their seventh straight loss.

The Yankees played unwatchable baseball, compiling two official errors that really should've included one more, as the Mets took the opener of the Subway Series, 10-3 . . .

Gary Sanchez set the Yankees' poor defensive tone right away in the first inning. With two outs and Jonathan Villar on second, representing the tying run, Javy Baez lined a single to left field. The speedy Villar turned on his jets as third-base coach Gary DiSarcina waved him home. Joey Gallo, whose powerful arm is not one to test, threw a bullet to Sanchez that beat Villar by a mile.

Instead of blocking the plate, Sanchez stepped to the side and essentially gave Villar a lane to slide into home. Sanchez, standing up, tagged Villar's helmet after the Met's foot crossed home plate. Villar was initially called out, but despite the perfect throw from Gallo, replays showed Villar was safe following Sanchez's lazy non-tag, and the call was reversed.

But that was only the beginning.

The Mets again exploited the Yankees' mediocrity in the third inning, jumping on left-hander Jordan Montgomery for five runs in the frame. . . .

[M]ost of the 37,288 fans at a rocking Citi Field on Friday night loved what they saw from the home team. The Mets offense erupted for 11 hits on the night, a day after they could only muster four against a lousy Marlins team. . . .

Right-hander Tylor Megill registered a career-high 10 strikeouts across seven strong innings, the deepest he has gone into a game in his fresh career. . . . 

[I]n the sixth, [the Yankees] wasted DJ LeMahieu's leadoff walk by grounding into the 131st double play of their season – tying them with the Nationals for the most in MLB.

And their defensive stumbles continued. For good measure, Gleyber Torres committed a throwing error in the seventh inning that led to another Mets run.

Mike Vaccaro, Post:

Well, maybe the Mets were barking up the right tree all along. Maybe they had the right plan. Maybe they simply had to wait for the easy part of the schedule to kick in before they could kick their playoff push into fifth gear. . . .

Yes, the Yankees essentially provided nine innings worth of concierge service for the Mets. They were most hospitable guests. Gary Sanchez's phantom tag of Jonathan Villar in the first inning provided what has to be one of the four or five lowlights in Yankees history, and that's a history that only goes back to 1903. The Yankees kicked the ball around. They'd have been better off trying to kick the ball on offense, too, rather than utilizing their lifeless lumber.

Yep. The Yankees stunk. The Yankees stink right now. They are stunningly close to taking a flying leap out of the playoff picture, helped along only by the fact that it was a tough night for every other relevant member of the AL East.

Not great pic.twitter.com/ne9Gqwsswq

— Talkin' Yanks (@TalkinYanks) September 10, 2021

Sad.. pic.twitter.com/P8cIggndsD

— JC (@JPC_AMG) September 10, 2021

He’s lazy and plays most of the game like he’s considering taking a nap.

— theevenrealermirman (@theevenrealerm1) September 10, 2021

Ken Davidoff, Post:

This CAN be determined in a millisecond, or in far less time than Gary Sanchez had at his disposal when Joey Gallo fed him with a perfect first-inning relay throw Friday night at Citi Field.

If the Yankees keep plummeting all the way out of the playoffs, then Sanchez's failure to tag Jonathan Villar on that play in this eventual 10-3 Subway Series loss to the Mets, will be the defining moment of this batspit crazy campaign. . . .

Villar's capitalizing on Sanchez's milquetoast execution — recognized only after Manhattan-based umpires overturned their Queens counterparts via Luis Rojas' replay challenge — merely tied the game at 1-1 . . . before losing pitcher Jordan Montgomery unraveled in the third by giving up five runs. Two other Yankees committed errors, although it sure appeared that Sanchez could have prevented one of them, . . . And the visitors' offense once again underwhelmed. . . .

Sanchez's mistake . . . was so egregious, so unnecessary, so symbolic of his worst moments to which the Yankees recommitted last winter that it carried the night … and could carry far more if the Yankees, now losers of seven straight, can't halt their hemorrhaging. Gallo's throw had Villar nailed by some 20 feet, and Sanchez's decision to sidestep the tag allowed Villar to sneak underneath him. 

Beyond brutal.

Asked if he thought that mistake impacted the Yankees for the rest of the game, Boone said, "Possibly."

Miraculously, the Yankees still hold a playoff slot because the Orioles, of all clubs, stopped the Blue Jays' winning streak at eight games . . .

That represents the tiniest consolation for a team that can't get out of its own way. That couldn't capitalize on a perfect throw . . . a relay that would've ended the inning on a high note . . .

That is amid a 2-11 nosedive that constitutes the Yankees' worst stretch since 2000, as per ESPN.

Matthew Roberson, Daily News:

To put it nicely, Gary Sanchez has a less than stellar reputation on defense.

If the league's best defenders wear gloves made of gold, Sanchez’s is pinchbeck. According to Defensive Runs Saved, Sanchez has been the worst catcher in the league this season (minimum 700 innings behind the dish). . . . Sanchez had a pair of defensive plays Friday that directly gave the Mets two runs.

The initial one came in the bottom of the first inning . . . Gallo's throw could not have been better, arriving perfectly on target, about 15 feet and several seconds before Villar reached home. Sanchez's tag, which was half-hearted and done while he stood off to the side, waited until a split second after Villar reached home.

It was a very bizarre play from Sanchez, who has a history of head scratchers from his six years in Yankee catching gear. . . . It almost looked like Sanchez expected Villar to coast into a tag standing up, essentially giving himself up rather than going into a slide. . . .

The Yankees did not send Sanchez to the postgame podium to explain himself. . . .

The second Sanchez mishap was in the third inning. With the bases loaded and the game tied, Baez peppered a sharp ground ball to third. Gio Urshela made an outstanding play, sprawling to his left, hitting the ground, and popping up to throw home. His delivery wasn't perfect, but it was certainly catchable.

Sanchez whiffed, the ball went to the backstop, and the Mets took the lead. With no outs and the bases still loaded after the play . . . the Mets went on to score three more runs in the inning and blow the game wide open.

Sanchez had more than enough time to quickly take his foot off the plate to cleanly catch the ball. In trying to keep his foot there to presumably start a double play, Sanchez wildly limited his range of motion, ultimately getting zero outs on the play. His lunging effort left a bit to be desired as well, adding another bullet point to the list of Sanchez's defensive shortcomings.

In addition to a wild pitch that could have gone either way, Sanchez had a lengthy reel of miscues in the Yankees' ignominious loss.

It never gets old!

Peter Botte, Post:

Tylor Megill's debut performance against the Yankees was precisely what the Mets needed out of their rookie starting pitcher.

And then some.

Megill mowed down the Yankees through a season-high seven innings after allowing two early runs, helping the Mets cruise to a 10-3 victory . . .

The 26-year-old Megill also recorded a career-best 10 strikeouts . . .

[T]he Mets plated five runs in the third to seize a 6-2 advantage, and Megill made the lead and subsequent extensions of it stand up through the seventh. . . .

After [a Joey] Gallo blast [in the second], Megill retired 11 of the next 12 batters he faced . . .

This could definitely end up being a mistake high comedy.