Yanks Thumped By Mets, 12-2

By Andy Singer

September 13th, 2026

The Big Story

Some days, no matter how hard you try, you're pitching naked out there. That was Gerrit Cole on Saturday afternoon in the Bronx. Cole's velocity and control were fine, but his stuff looked flat and he hung numerous fastballs over the middle of the plate to Mets hitters. The Mets homered in each of the first 3 innings, with a lead-off homer by Francisco Lindor on a hanging change-up setting the tone for the Mets. Cole was ultimately chased with one out in the 5th inning after Carson Benge singled in Soto from 2B to give the Mets a 5-1 lead.

If you thought Cole was bad, the bullpen somehow managed to be worse. After Ryan Yarbrough cleaned up Cole's 5th inning mess and pitched a clean 6th inning, Tim Hill and Bradley Hanner allowed the floodgates to swing wide open, allowing 7 runs in just 3 innings. If Cole was pitching naked, Hill and Hanner looked like they'd never seen clothes.

The Yankee offense was sleepwalking through most of the game, with little to hang their hat on besides Cody Bellinger's continued hot streak and Spencer Jones' quest to prove he can make enough contact to survive in the bigs. Overall, this was one of those games you just have to shake off and look to the next day. Sadly, the AL East continues to slowly slip away, as the Rays beat the Astros again to swell their AL East lead to 4 games.

Cole Had Nothing

Not to belabor the point, but Cole had less than nothing out there yesterday. On 40 swings, Cole generated just 3 swings and misses by the Mets. Cole's command was severely lacking and his stuff was very flat. The Mets' swings indicated that all day yesterday. It was a worrisome start this close to the playoffs, but it does fit into the larger narrative of Cole's recent struggles in the Subway Series. Hopefully Cole's start was just a blip, not a harbinger of things to come.

Bellinger Stays Hot

Over his last 28 days, Cody Bellinger is hitting .325 and showing some pop again. The Yankees need some guys to step up, and Bellinger is doing it when the Yankees need him. Bellinger struggled when he was the center of the offense, but looks a lot more like himself now that he has guys like Judge and Garcia filling up the middle of the order.

Who's On The Mound?

There's only one thing that can give me any comfort about the pitching we saw from the bullpen yesterday: none of these guys should pitch in the playoffs. The Yankees are going to be able to shorten the bullpen and hopefully use lefty Ryan Weathers alongside Clarke Schmidt and Will Warren in bullpen roles in the playoffs. Tim Hill and Bradley Hanner have proven that they shouldn't be anywhere near high-leverage situations.

Looking To Tomorrow

Cam Schlittler takes the mound today as he seeks to add to his Cy Young case and help the Yanks win the Subway Series against the Mets. Mercifully, it's an afternoon game, not a potential 4-hour Sunday night affair (seriously, the national Sunday night games have been brutally long this season). I'm hoping for another dominant performance from Schlittler to pull the Yankees ahead.