The NY Yankees and crosstown rival Mets are going in completely different directions this season, the Yankees almost certainly playoff bound, while the Mets are already planning for next year.
But last night's head to head duel at Yankee Stadium was still a drama filled contest due to the pitching match-up between both team's aces, Luis Severino for the pinstripes, and Jacob DeGrom for the underdog Mets. In the end, it was DeGrom who emerged victorious, backed by the kind of home run firepower much more often displayed by the Yankees this season.
The Mets hit five home runs on the night, finally giving their ace pitcher the run support he's lacked all season in an 8-5 victory.
Amed Rosario led off the game with a home run, and was later joined by Jose Bautista, Todd Frazier, Brandon Nimmo and Michael Conforto all going yard as the hometown Bronx crowd suffered the indignity of hearing their neighbors from Queens let loose with chants of "Let's Go Mets!"
The win bolsters DeGrom's chances of winning the National League's Cy Young award this season. He already boasts the league's lowest earned run average at just 1.81 and picked up his seventh win of the year against seven losses, most of those losses plus a whole slew of no-decisions due to the anemic Mets offense in most of his starts, but not last night. DeGrom handled the modern day murderer's row of the Yankee line-up, minus the injured Aaron Judge and Gary Sanchez, giving up just two earned runs over six and two thirds while striking out 12.
His counterpart Severino was not nearly as sharp, and was gone by the fourth inning, touched up for seven hits and four runs, two of those hits homers by Rosario and Bautista.
And the Boston Red Sox say thanks very much to the Mets. Idle last night before opening an inter-league series against the Phillies in Philadelphia tonight, the Sox picked up a half game to extend their lead over the Yankees for first place in the A.L. east into double digit territory, now a full ten game lead.
The Toronto Blue Jays are another team already waiting for the calendar to turn to next year, and that means giving chances to prospects like Sean Reid-Foley, who made his major league pitching debut last night against the Kansas City Royals, and did so with the distinction of being just the second player in major league history born in the U.S. territory of Guam. He didn't get the win, but pitched pretty well, going five innings, allowing three runs and six hits while striking out three in a 3-1 loss. Ryan O'Hearn homered and drove in all three runs for the Royals.
A former UVM hoops hero is turning pro to play with the New Heroes. Payton Henson has signed a one year deal to play overseas with the New Heroes Basketball Club in the Netherlands, part of the Dutch Basketball League, following his senior year at the University of Vermont. Over his two seasons with the UVM men's basketball team, Henson averaged nearly 12 points a game.
Meanwhile, this year's Catamounts squad just finished up a pre-season series of games in Canada, going 3-0 against teams from Ottawa, Montreal, and McGill University as they get ready for the 2018-19 season.
