Noah Syndergaard received a Yankee Doodle beatdown Saturday that could have raised red flags, but instead earned him an endorsement from the manager.
“If we get in the postseason, as I’m sitting here, Noah Syndergaard will be starting one of the first few games,” manager Terry Collins said after the Mets’ 5-0 loss to the Yankees at Citi Field. “I saw a guy who threw the ball very well against an outstanding lineup, especially against right-handed pitching.”
In his worst career home performance, Syndergaard allowed home runs to Carlos Beltran and Brian McCann, helping the Yankees take a 3-2 lead in this year’s Subway Series, with the finale awaiting Sunday night.
The Mets’ magic number to clinch the NL East remained at eight after the Nationals defeated the Marlins 5-2 on Saturday night. The Yankees pulled within 3 ¹/₂ games of the AL East lead with the Blue Jays’ 7-6 loss to the Red Sox.
With little to cheer about Saturday, Mets fans in the middle innings resorted to the chant: “Let’s go, Blue Jays.”
Syndergaard (8-7) skipped a start earlier this month because of concerns about his workload and returned with a gem on Sept. 12 against the Braves, but landed in a first-inning hole Saturday when Beltran, on an 0-2 fastball that registered 100 mph, hit a three-run homer.
“I could have done a number of things in that scenario,” Syndergaard said. “I went ahead and tried to elevate a fastball and I left it down-and-in, right in the heart of where the swing takes him and a veteran guy like that, no matter how hard it is he’s going to put a good swing on it.”
In the sixth, McCann unloaded against Syndergaard for a two-run homer.
“I think he’ll be all right,” McCann said. “He was very impressive today. A good arm.”
Beltran had similar sentiments.
“A young guy like that has to be fun for the Mets,” Beltran said. “They are leading the division and playing good baseball. It has to be fun knowing you have those [young pitchers] for a long time.”
Michael Pineda (11-8) shined for the Yankees with 5 ¹/₃ shutout innings in which he allowed four hits and walked a batter.
Pineda’s start was his best since July 4, when he fired seven shutout innings against the Rays. In his five of his last six outings he had allowed at least four earned runs.
A day after hitting three home runs, the Mets had one rally — they loaded the bases in the sixth — but were otherwise silent. Yoenis Cespedes went hitless in four at-bats for the Mets and extended his skid to 0-for-17 since hitting a home run on Monday.
“He’s the type of guy who makes adjustments, so it wouldn’t surprise me if he gets hot real soon,” David Wright said.
Justin Wilson highlighted the Yankees’ bullpen effort by striking out Wright and Juan Uribe to end the sixth, after the Mets had loaded the bases with one out.
McCann’s two-run homer in the sixth put the Mets in a 5-0 hole and ensured Syndergaard — who entered with a 2.15 ERA at Citi Field — of his worst home start.
Syndergaard escaped trouble in the fifth, when he allowed a leadoff triple to Dustin Ackley before retiring three straight batters to keep the Yankees’ lead at 3-0.
The Yankees started their rally in the first that culminated with Beltran’s homer on consecutive singles by Jacoby Ellsbury and Brett Gardner.
“If you go back and look at the tape at all, [Syndergaard] made two bad pitches,” Collins said, referring to the homers. “The pitches that Ellsbury and Gardner hit, he made decent pitches and they just got hits. You take the two swings away and it’s a pretty good game.”
