It only took 11 pitches Tuesday night for the most pressing question entering the Subway Series to have a possible solution. It took one swing from Brandon Nimmo — one walk-off, game-winning swing in the 10th inning — the next night to confirm that.
First, in Game 1 of the Subway Series, Max Scherzer, from the center of the Citi Field mound, rocked his hands over his head, kicked his leg and delivered a slider — the pitch he’d later pinpoint as the reason for his sluggish start — toward Giancarlo Stanton. Catcher Francisco Alvarez had his glove positioned near the left-handed batter’s box. The slider, instead, hung over the plate.
So Stanton, a right-handed hitter, smashed the poorly located pitch 110.2 mph and an estimated 408 feet. His spot in the Yankees lineup (No. 2) was previously reserved for Aaron Judge, but amid a stretch where the Bronx Bombers don’t have the reigning MVP due to a big-toe injury, Stanton took the worries caused by Judge’s dinged-up digit and redirected them over the left-field fence.
Then, the next night, Nimmo connected on Nick Ramirez’s second pitch in the 10th inning and clobbered the ball off the right-field fence, deep enough to score Eduardo Escobar from second in the Mets’ 4-3 victory. Both swings injected life into the historic rivalry. The latter could serve as a turning point if the Mets do anything with the rest of their season.
