NEW YORK — The Subway Series’ marquee starting pitching matchup lived up to the hype as Justin Verlander and Gerrit Cole each allowed one run in six innings at Citi Field on Wednesday night.
Then the wackiness began.
A straight steal of home by Isiah Kiner-Falefa. A baserunning blunder by Brandon Nimmo. A defensive shift violation by Jeff McNeil. Ghost runners.
In the end, the Mets earned the Subway Series split with a come-from-behind 4-3 victory on Brandon Nimmo’s one-out walk-off double off the bottom of the rightfield wall in the 10th before a sellout crowd of 44,121.
The Mets desperately needed the win as they had lost nine of 10 going in. The teams meet again in a two-game series in the Bronx on July 25-26.
Winning pitcher Dominic Leone (1-2) stranded the Yankees’ ghost runner at second in the top of the 10th. Nimmo’s game-winner came off lefthander Nick Ramirez.
The Mets came back from a 3-1 deficit with two runs in the seventh.
Once the two elite starters were out of the game, the Yankees took a 3-1 lead without a hit in the top of the seventh on a run-scoring throwing error by McNeil on the back end of a failed attempt at an inning-ending double play and Kiner-Falefa’s steal of home.
With lefty Brooks Raley pitching, Kiner-Falefa stole second and moved to third on a throwing error by Francisco Alvarez.
Only Kiner-Falefa wasn’t content on staying at third. Ignored by Raley, who was pitching out of the windup, Kiner-Falefa walked toward home and then took off. He scored easily as Raley’s pitch sailed to the backstop.
It was the Yankees’ first steal of home since Didi Gregorius on the back end of a double steal against Buck Showalter’s Orioles on Aug. 27, 2016.
The Mets tied it at 3 in the bottom half on a two-out bases-loaded hit by pitch off Nimmo’s elbow pad and an RBI single to left by Starling Marte.
But Nimmo was thrown out at second on the single because he started for third as he assumed the runner ahead of him was going to try the score. Nimmo was tagged out trying to get back to second. The inning-ending out call was challenged, and it’s possible Nimmo got his left hand in before he was tagged, but the call stood.
In the top of the eighth, McNeil was called for a defensive shift violation for positioning himself on the third base side of second base as he tried to hold on Anthony Volpe. A strike was taken away and a ball was added to Giancarlo Stanton’s at-bat. But Adam Ottavino got out of the inning anyway.
As for the marquee pitching matchup: After a 37-miniute rain delay before the first pitch, Verlander (107 pitches) allowed three hits, walked none and struck out six. Cole (95 pitches) gave up four hits, walked none and struck out eight.
Cole retired the first 12 Mets with five strikeouts before Francisco Lindor led off the bottom of the fifth in a scoreless game with a deep double to center.
Two outs later, Cole nemesis Tommy Pham crushed an RBI double to deep right to give the Mets a 1-0 lead. Pham was 10-for-27 with two home runs off Cole coming in.
Verlander survived a 23-pitch first inning to throw scoreless ball and only allowed one hit over the first five innings with six strikeouts.
Billy McKinney led off the third with a double to deep right-center, but remained at second as Jose Trevino grounded out to short on the first pitch. McKinney moved to third on Volpe’s liner to right, but Jake Bauers popped out to second baseman McNeil in short rightfield to end the scoring threat.
The Yankees didn’t have another baserunner until Trevino doubled into the leftfield corner leading off the sixth. Verlander wanted a shutdown inning after the Mets gave him a lead in the top half, but it was not to be as the 40-year-old gave up the tying run while crossing the 100-pitch plateau in the sixth. Trevino later scored on Bauers’ single to tie the game at 1.
