NEW YORK, NEW YORK - AUGUST 23: Oswaldo Cabrera #95 of the New York Yankees gestures towards his dugout after drawing a bases loaded walk during the fourth inning against the New York Mets scoring teammate Anthony Rizzo #48 at Yankee Stadium on August 23, 2022 in New York City. The RBI was Cabrera's first in the major leagues. (Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)

YANKEES 4 – METS 2

For the New York Yankees, they can take a deep sigh of relief after sweeping away their crosstown rivals. For the Mets, this week’s Subway Series was the equivalent of a tooth extraction.

So it goes for New York’s two Major League teams. The Yankees swept the Yankee Stadium portion of the Subway Series by a count of 4-2, settling for a split of the overall season series at two games a piece.

The Yankees got the job done thanks to tremendous pitching, timely hitting, and a Mets team that is ice cold at the plate. In a way, it is a complete reversal from where these two teams were after their first encounter back in July.

Tuesday’s 4-2 Yankee win was a scratch and claw affair. Both starters Taijuan Walker and Frankie Montas were on the top of their game early as the contest remained scoreless until the fourth inning. Aaron Judge broke the scoreless tie and put away Walker’s flirtation with a no-hitter when he launched a pitch 453 feet into the back of the left field bleachers for a solo homer to give the Yanks a 1-0 lead.

Walker would lose control after that. He gave up singles to Anthony Rizzo and Gleyber Torres before walking Josh Donaldson to load the bases. Finally, Walker walked Oswaldo Cabrera, scoring Rizzo to put the Yankees up 2-0.

The Mets did everything they could to respond, but throughout the night, couldn’t deliver the back-breaking blow.

In the top of the fifth, the Mets had both Mark Canha and Brett Baty on base with no outs, and could only score one run — on a hard two-out single by Starling Marte that scored Canha. However, Baty was thrown out at the plate, costing the Mets a chance to tie.

The Mets nearly ran themselves into another out when Pete Alonso stumbled around third base on Jeff McNeil’s RBI double in the top of the sixth, but Yankees second baseman Gleyber Torres never saw Alonso stumble around third before regrouping to score the tying run.

The book was closed on both Montas and Walker. Montas easily had his best outing as a Yankee. He held the Mets to two runs on six hits over 5.2 innings of work. Walker gave up two runs on four hits over five innings.

After Seth Lugo did a marvelous job in relief for the Mets in the bottom of the sixth, the Mets went to erratic former Yankee Joely Rodriguez who struggled. Rodriguez gave up four base hits including run-scoring singles to Andrew Benintendi and Aaron Judge to put the Yankees back in front 4-2.

Meanwhile, Clark Schmidt was brilliant for the Bombers. He kept the Mets off the scoreboard for three innings in relief while the Yankees made their comeback.

The Mets’ last best shot to score came in the ninth inning when they loaded the bases against Schmidt. With two out, Yankees Manager Aaron Boone went to the bullpen and brought in Wandy Peralta, who found a way to jam Francisco Lindor on a fly ball to center field to end it.

The Yankees (76-48) begin a west coast swing in Oakland on Thursday. The Mets (79-46) host Colorado on Thursday.