Jeff McNeil, arms clasped behind his back, tossed his bat and shouted toward the New York Mets dugout, starting up the first base line as his go-ahead, two-run homer in the seventh inning off Luke Weaver sailed into the second deck at Citi Field.
Twenty-five minutes later, the second baseman sprinted a half-dozen steps to his left, sprawled onto the outfield grass and with an outstretched glove angled toward the right-field corner snagged DJ LeMahieu's one-hopper . McNeil popped to his feet and threw to first for the second out of the ninth.
"The homer was sick," McNeil said after the Mets overcame a pair of two-run deficits to beat the New York Yankees 6-5 on Friday in the opener of this season's second Subway Series. "I love hitting homers. I don't hit that many. But at the same time, because I hit the home run, I think that play was a little bit bigger."
In a thrilling back-and-forth struggle on a sunny Fourth of July that included seven home runs, the Yankees wasted 2-0 and 5-3 leads and the Mets squandered a 3-2 advantage. The Mets won their third straight game after losing 14 of 17, while the Yankees lost their fifth in a row.
Both teams were in first place when their series in the Bronx began on May 16. The Mets were a big league-best 45-24 on June 12 and the Yankees 42-25, and then both plunged like skydivers. The Mets are 6-14 since and the Yankees 6-15.