Cam Schlittler can add Queens to his list of conquered locales.
All it took for the Mets to revert to their pre-homestand form Friday was a visit from the Yankees ace, in his Subway Series debut, carrying the weight of the team’s weeklong downturn.
The Mets barely touched him in a 5-2 loss at Citi Field that snapped their three-game winning streak.
Only adding to the Mets’ angst: Clay Holmes sustained a broken right fibula on a 111-mph rocket off Spencer Jones’ bat leading off the fourth. Holmes remained in the game and pitched into the next inning, but now faces a long absence from the Mets rotation.
“Every team is going to deal with adversity,” manager Carlos Mendoza said. “We have got to keep going.”
Mendoza was noncommittal about who the Mets will use to fill Holmes’ rotation spot. Candidates could include Jack Wenninger, who has dominated at Triple-A Syracuse.
Schlittler, in helping the Yankees win for only the second time in seven games, allowed one run — on a Juan Soto homer — departing after 6 ²/₃ innings in which he surrendered two hits and two walks with nine strikeouts. He threw a season-high 106 pitches and his ERA remained at 1.35.
“You are going to be a little extra locked in for situations like this, so those don’t faze me and I know that doesn’t faze the guys around here,” Schlittler said. “It’s a lot of fun to be part of.”
The Mets managed five hits on a night the Yankees received 2 ²/₃ solid innings in relief from Fernando Cruz and David Bednar.
It was a comedown for the Mets after blasting a season-high five homers a day earlier to complete a three-game sweep of Detroit. The Mets scored 22 runs in the three games and appeared offensively on track after a deep slumber during their last road trip.
Brett Baty singled with two outs in the second against Schlittler for the Mets’ only hit until Soto homered leading off the seventh. Schlittler had a fourth straight start allowing one run or less.
Holmes lasted only 4 ¹/₃ innings and surrendered four earned runs on seven hits with two walks and eight strikeouts. He was checked by the Mets’ trainer after Jones’ 111-mph line drive hit his leg in the fourth, but he was in pain in the fifth. A subsequent X-ray revealed the fracture.
“It’s really sad what happened to him,” Soto said. “It’s part of the game. We’re going to support him. We’re going to be right there for him in any kind of way that he needs us, but it just sucks.”
Holmes got two outs in the third before allowing consecutive singles to Ben Rice and Aaron Judge. Holmes got ahead 1-2 in the count to Cody Bellinger, who swung at a curveball below the strike zone and golfed a two-run double to give the Yankees a 2-0 lead. Jazz Chisholm Jr. followed with a fourth straight hit against Holmes, an RBI double.
second base for a two-run double during the third inning. Robert Sabo for NY Post
Jones hit a rocket off Holmes’ leg for a single to begin the fourth. Holmes walked Anthony Volpe on three straight pitches before striking out Austin Wells and Trent Grisham. Rice’s ensuing infield single loaded the bases before Judge was retired on a fly to right.
Chisholm walked in the fifth, prompting Mendoza to replace Holmes with Austin Warren. After a fielder’s choice moved Chisholm to second, Jones stroked an RBI single that widened the Mets’ deficit to 4-0. Anthony Volpe followed with a walk before Warren escaped by striking out Wells.
Soto ended the shutout bid by clearing the fence in left-center leading off the bottom of the seventh for his second homer in as many games. Soto fell behind 0-2 in the count before smashing a 97-mph four-seam fastball from Schlittler for career homer No. 250.
Schlittler walked Baty with two outs in the seventh and was removed. Cruz allowed a bunt single to Semien and unloaded a wild pitch, advancing runners to second and third, before retiring A.J. Ewing.
Rice homered leading off the ninth against Craig Kimbrel to extend the Yankees lead to 5-1. The blast was Rice’s 14th this season, moving him within two of Judge for the team lead.
Bednar gave up one run in the ninth for the Yankees after Cruz’s perfect eighth. Bednar walked Soto in the ninth before getting Mark Vientos to ground into a double play. MJ Melendez’s single extended the inning and he stole second before Baty singled in the final run.
“There was a lot of buzz around [the ballpark],” Schlittler said. “Great atmosphere and it was good to get the win.”
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
