Taijuan Walker took a no-hitter into the sixth inning as the New York Mets put together a pair of big innings to beat the New York Yankees 8-3 Saturday afternoon at Yankee Stadium in the opener of the Subway Series.
Walker (7-3) entered the sixth at 86 pitches and had an 8-0 lead. He lost his no-hit bid when, with one out, Aaron Judge hit a 2-2 fastball into the right-center field seats.
After Walker allowed Judge’s homer, the Mets struggled to get through the inning.
Walker exited after allowing a two-out single to Giancarlo Stanton and Miguel Castro gave up a two-run, bases-loaded single to Gio Urshela before Jeurys Familia struck out Miguel Andujar to end the frame.
Walker allowed two runs on two hits in 5 2/3 innings. He struck out five, walked two and threw 106 pitches, making it likely that the Mets’ second no-hitter in team history would have been a combined effort.
Dominic Smith drove in three runs on three hits and Brandon Nimmo also had three hits for the Mets, who collected 14 and scored their most runs since a 14-1 win at Baltimore on June 9.
Playing their first game since allowing seven runs in the ninth inning of an 11-8 loss to the Los Angeles Angels on Wednesday, the Yankees were held to just three hits. They lost for the sixth time in seven games and the latest loss occurred two days after managing general partner Hal Steinbrenner said the jobs of general manager Brian Cashman and manager Aaron Boone were safe while putting the onus on the players.
Singles by Smith and James McCann gave the Mets a 2-0 lead in the fifth inning. A wild pitch by Lucas Luetge allowed Smith to make it 3-0 and the Mets surged further ahead an inning later before an out was recorded.
A bases-loaded walk to Francisco Lindor made it 4-0. On the next pitch, Smith ripped a two-run double and Kevin Pillar hit a two-run single to make it 8-0.
New York left-hander Jordan Montgomery (3-3) allowed three runs on six hits in 4 1/3 innings, striking out six with three walks.
Michael King, who was a candidate to start the nightcap of Sunday’s day-night doubleheader, stabilized the game by striking out nine in four scoreless innings.
–Field Level Media
