About Last Night: Beat The Mets: Yankees 6, Mets 4

About Last Night: Beat The Mets, Beat The Mets, Come On Out And Beat The Mets.  Yankees 6 – Mets 4

By Tim Kabel

September 12, 2026

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The Yankees beat the Mets 6-4 last night in the opening game of this three-game series.

Before the game, there was a very moving ceremony to commemorate the 25th anniversary of 9/11. Nobody does ceremonies like that better than the Yankees. It was extremely appropriate that the series with the Mets was scheduled for this weekend.

Cody Bellinger hit a three-run home run in the second inning. Ben Rice hit his 37th home run in the fifth inning and Spencer Jones and Ryan McMahon each had RBI hits.

Carlos Rodon pitched 6.1 innings allowing 2 runs, 1 earned. Paul Blackburn, Brent Headrick, and David Bednar all struggled in relief, but the Yankees were able to hold on for the victory.

The Yankees are now a season high 23 games over .500 and remain in second place in the American League East, three games behind the Rays and 5 1/2 games ahead of the Red Sox.

On the other hand, the Mets are 11 games under .500 and are 18 1/2 games out of first place in the National League East. It has been a very tough year for the Mets. Let's hope that continues for at least the next two days.

Ben Rice had three hits last night, including the aforementioned home run. He has a legitimate chance to finish the season with 40 home runs and 100 RBI. Luis Garcia also had three hits while Cody Bellinger and Spencer Jones had two apiece.

The only area of concern in last night's game was the bullpen. As I and many others have written, some of the key members of the bullpen have been struggling lately as they seem to be worn down near the end of the season. That applies to Blackburn, Headrick, David Bednar, and Tim Hill, who did not pitch last night. Brent Headrick has appeared in 75 games this season. He has been in more games than Dave Sims has called. Headrick’s entry song could never be “Without You” from The Sound of Music since the Yankees seemingly cannot go more than one day without using him.

While it certainly isn't cause for alarm, the Yankees need to try to give some rest to the key members of their bullpen down the stretch, if at all possible. Otherwise, things could fall apart quickly in the playoffs.

Hopefully, Clarke Schmidt, David Weathers, and Will Warren can give a shot in the arm to the bullpen in the postseason. This is not designed as a knock on the high-leverage pitchers in the Yankees bullpen. It is just hard to remain effective this late in the season when you are being used almost every day. That's baseball, Suzyn.

A Few Tidbits: 

·       After scoring 31 runs in a three-game sweep of Miami, the Mets had their four-game winning streak snapped last night.

·       David Bednar, despite giving up a home run to AJ Ewing, earned his 33rd save in 36 chances.

·       Carlos Rodon had eight strikeouts last night including two of Juan Soto, who was booed by the Yankees fans before each at bat.

·       The Tampa Bay Rays clinched a playoff spot last night when Junior Caminero hit a walk off home run in the ninth inning to defeat the Houston Astros. It was Caminero's 40th home run of the season, making him the first Rays player with multiple 40-home run seasons and the second player in the modern era with back-to-back 40- home run seasons by the age of 22.

·       Austin Wells has 10 home runs and 28 RBI in 112 games this season. He is batting.179. Ryan McMahon has 10 home runs and 34 RBI in 115 games. He is batting.215 for the season. Spencer Jones has 9 home runs and 34 RBI in 74 games this season. He is batting.259. Guess which one most fans did not think was ready for the Major Leagues.

·       The ceremonial first pitches of the game were thrown out by Brielle Saracini and Sean McGuire, a married couple who both lost their fathers in the 2001 terrorist attacks. They subsequently met at a camp for children who lost their parents on 9/11. Ms. Saracini also reunited with Derek Jeter whom she first met 25 years ago when she wrote him a letter after her father died, asking to meet him.

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Today, The Yankees will play the second game of the three-game series against the Mets at 1:35 PM at Yankee Stadium. Gerrit Cole, (8-8, 3.41 ERA) will pitch for the Yankees against Zac Thornton, (3-5, 3.53 ERA). Let’s hope Zac is not a Thornton In the Yankees’ side tomorrow.