Game 50 Wrap-Up: NYM 2 NYY 1

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After a sour ending to their series in Tampa, the Mets were just the type of team the Yankees needed to see to get back on the right rack and that's exactly who they got to see last night.  The 4-game Subway Series kicked off at Citi Field with Jon Niese and Phil Hughes taking the mound.  The Met lineup was a perfect one for Hughes to continue his turnaround as well, and continue it he did.  Too bad his lineup forgot to show up last night and GIDP'd themselves and Hughes out of a W.

Game Notes:

- Hughes was aggressive with his fastball from the start last night, which doesn't come as a surprise.  What does is him throwing it for strikes consistently and generating a lot of groundball contact with it, yet that's just what Hughes was doing early.

- Another rarity for Hughes is being efficient with his pitch count, and yet that's also what he was doing last night.  Through 6 innings, Hughes gave up just 3 hits and threw just 78 pitches while holding the Mets scoreless.

- While the Mets' opportunities were few, the Yankees had a great one against Niese in the top of the 2nd.  They loaded the bases with 1 out on a pair of singles and a walk before Chris Stewart rapped into an inning-ending double play.

- They Yanks managed just 1 baserunner after the 2nd before finally breaking through in the 6th.  Brett Gardner led off with a triple and scored on Jayson Nix's RBI single.  A Robinson Cano GIDP quickly ended the rally, and turned out to be a big play later in the game.

- It always seems like it's just a matter of time with Hughes and time finally ran out on him in the bottom of the 7th.  He couldn't put away David Wright with 2-strike fastballs and the final of 4 straight that he threw in the AB was hit for a game-tying HR.

- As dominant as he looked a week ago, D-Rob was the exact opposite in the 8th last night.  He had no command of his cutter or curveball and gave up the go-ahead run on 2 hits, a walk, and a HBP.

- The lineup left 2 on in the 7th and went down quietly in the 8th and 9th, wasting a great opportunity to earn Hughes a win on a night when he did more than enough to earn it.

F*ck Yeahs:

- Hughes: 7 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 6 K.  Hughes allowed just 1 run, didn't walk a batter, and had more GB outs than FB outs.  That's a game the Yankees should win 12 times out of 10.  His pitch selection against Wright in the 7th was poor, but he pitched more than well enough to win last night.  More of this, please.

- Gardner: 1-4, 1 3B, 1 R, 1 K, 2 LOB.  Gardner's triple in the 6th was more bad defense than anything, but there's no denying his leaping catch at the wall in the bottom half of the inning was a spectacular play.  It robbed a 2-run HR and kept Phil scoreless at the time.  Fantastic play.

Oh Nos:

- D-Rob: 0.2 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 1 K.  He was due for a game like this.  Just sucks it had to come last night in such a winnable game.

- Cano: 1-4, 1 K, 1 GIDP, 2 LOB.  Another blah night at the dish for Cano.  His GIDP in the 6th was the worst thing that could have happened in that situation.  Took a potentially big inning against a crumbling Niese and pulled the E-brake on it.  Not what you expect from your best hitter.

Next Up:

Game 2 of the series tonight and it should be a dandy.  Hiroki Kuroda and Matt Harvey square off in a battle of the aces.  Don't be surprised to see another no-hitter in play from Harvey if the lineup doesn't shake out the cobwebs.