Sunday night represented the capstone of a great New York sports weekend. Hell, if you’re a Yankees and Knicks fan, this weekend could not have gone any better. The Knicks beat the heavily favored Boston Celtics to advance to the Eastern Conference Finals on Friday night, the hyped up Subway Series delivered with some great games, Max Fried dominated Juan Soto, and all as right with the world as the Yankees came out on top over the Mets. Thanks to some eighth-inning heroics, an 8-2 win on Sunday Night Baseball nailed down the series.

Max Fried started the game for the Yanks, looking to bolster his league-leading 1.11 ERA. He got off on the right foot with a 1-2-3 frame, retiring Francisco Lindor, Juan Soto, and Pete Alonso on three straight popups.

For his part, Paul Goldschmidt began the night by reaching on a Mark Vientos error. Back in the game thread, I remarked on Mets starter David Peterson’s ability to generate groundballs and pondered about the Mets’ infield behind him, especially with Vientos playing third. Two back-to-back doubles by Aaron Judge and Cody Bellinger eventually scored Goldschmidt (and Judge) to make it 2-0 Yankees with one out in the first.

The Bellinger double actually ricocheted off of Alonso’s glove in a further dismal display of the Mets’ infield defense. Judge put his 0-for-5 Saturday in the rear-view mirror immediately, while Bellinger continued his May hot streak by reaching in his 13th consecutive game.

Vientos reached on an infield chopper of his own that Fried could not make the (very difficult) play on. Brandon Nimmo drew a walk and subsequently did his performative sprint down to first base to set the Mets up with two on and no outs in the second. Fried then struck out Starling Marte with a beautiful backdoor slider that just nicked the edge of the zone and Francisco Álvarez with some high heat. Jeff McNeil ambushed Fried, however, and Vientos scored from second on a single to make it 2-1 Yankees. Luisangel Acuña grounded out to DJ LeMahieu to end the inning. While Fried gave up a run, he was able to limit the damage after letting the first two batters on.

DJ LeMahieu rudely interrupted Brandon Nimmo’s in-game interview about the Knicks with an infield single deep in the shortstop hole. It’s nice to see DJ moving down the line. Otherwise, though, the Yankees were retired, leaving it to Fried to navigate the top of the Mets order to start the third.

Judge helped him do that with a smooth diving play in right to retire Lindor. An underdiscussed aspect of Soto’s departure from the Bronx is Judge’s return to right, where he is a clearly better fielder than in center. Fried then absolutely froze the aforementioned Soto with a Koufax-esque curveball for his third strikeout of the night.

Alonso then whiffed on a curve as well, although it was close to being a foul-tip. Fried has been an absolute revelation for the Yankees—not only is he dominant, he’s incredibly entertaining to watch pitch. If you find yourself trying to convert a loved one into a Yankee (or baseball) fan, Fried is the pitcher to show them. The word “cerebral” will be attached to the southpaw for as long as he pitches, but that shouldn’t take away from just how nasty he is as well.

The game settled down until the top of the fifth. Fried walked McNeil to start the inning off. Acuña bunted McNeil over into scoring position with Lindor at the plate. LeMahieu retired Lindor on a groundout to bring up Soto with McNeil on third. The stage was set for the most dramatic at bat of the game thus far. Fried bounced a ball that Austin Wells was not able to corral, allowing McNeil to score and tie the game at 2-2.

Fried struck out Soto again, though, this time on a fastball down and in that the former Yankee swung through.

The Bombers’ half of the inning provided its own drama. After Goldschmidt walked with one out and Trent Grisham grounded out on a fielder’s choice that saw Goldy move to second, Judge was intentionally walked before Bellinger worked his own free pass to load the bases with two outs and Anthony Volpe at the plate. Volpe hit a grounder that actually appeared to strike Judge on the basepaths, but Volpe was thrown out. As Peterson was struggling with control, Volpe has to have a better at-bat rather than just throwing his bat at the first pitch. The Mets’ strategy worked, and it wouldn’t even be the shortstop’s ugliest AB of the night.

No matter, though—Fried struck out Alonso on a four-seamer for his eighth of the night. He then induced two straight grounders to end the sixth on his 102nd pitch of the game. Fried spun another gem tonight in a playoff-like atmosphere, although the Mets did make him work by fouling off a ton of pitches and increased his ERA to a still-sparkling 1.29.

Jonathan Loásiga took the mound in the seventh and boy, did he look sharp in his second game back off the IL. He both painted the zone and embarrassed the Mets hitters with a demonic sinker. Brett Baty pinch-hit for Marte and promptly went down. Francisco Álvarez struck out for the third time on that sinker. Loásiga walked McNeil before Acuña, the nine-hole hitter, reached on a bad error by Oswald Peraza. The erstwhile top prospect has not looked great at third during his time there, and the Yankees bullpen has a bad habit of letting the bottom of the order reach in late innings. Thankfully, Lindor flew out to Judge to end the threat. Headed into the Yankee seventh, this game just felt like one that would be decided by one of the many stars on the field.

Huascar Brazobán took over for Peterson in the seventh. He was able to retire the pinch-hitting Ben Rice (who came in for Peraza) and Goldschmidt before walking Trent Grisham and Judge to bring up Beliinger with two on and two outs. He reached on a grounder that actually hit Brazobán, who tumbled into Alonso in the race to try and tag Bellinger. Volpe, seeking redemption, turned in a worse at-bat with the bases loaded. Up 3-0, Volpe took a strike and then swung at three straight pitches out of the zone for the K. ESPN announcer David Cone was practically pleading with Volpe to make Brazobán throw three straight strikes when the count was 3-0. Volpe’s offense has improved this year, but he had two big at-bats during this game in which he completely floundered.

Devin Williams came on in the eighth to face the Mets, seeking a repeat performance of his whiff-happy Subway Series opener rather than the NL Wild Card Series. He induced a dribbler from Soto (with a great play from LeMahieu, who had to readjust when the ball hit the lip of the grass) and a hard lineout from Alonso. Williams then struck out Vientos on a painted heater. It was nice to see a deliberate Williams not fool around with the heart of the Mets order.

The Yankees had something cooking in their half of the eighth. The Martian, Jasson Domínguez, led off with a walk against Ryne Stanek. DJ struck out after a battle, but Wells then ripped a double off of a Stanek splitter to make it runners on second and third for Jorbit Vivas in his first at-bat of the game, having entered following the Rice pinch-hit appearance. After going down 0-2, the patient rookie watched three consecutive fastballs up out of the zone to make it 3-2. After fouling multiple 100 mph fastballs in the at bat, Vivas ripped a splitter to first. Alonso fielded it and airmailed the throw in an attempt to nail the Martian at home, making it 3-2 Yankees in the eighth.

Keeping the foot on the gas pedal, Goldschmidt then deposited an elevated heater into center to score Wells, who moved to third on the Alonso error.

Génesis Cabrera came on for Stanek and promptly walked Trent Grisham. Judge struck out, but on the very next pitch, Bellinger short-porched an inside pitch for a grand slam and put this game to bed. Bellinger had a fantastic game tonight. His performance behind Judge will be absolutely crucial for the remainder of the season, so it’s a welcome sign to see him produce as of late.

Tim Hill came in on mop-up duty to end the game, enduring a 14-pitch at-bat from Brandon Nimmo to retire the side in order for the 8-2 victory.

The final score does not tell the entire story—this was a thrilling ballgame. With all fellow AL East teams losing today, the Yanks were able to build a bit of a lead in the division and are now five games clear of the 23-25 Red Sox. The Yankees have an offday before hosting the Rangers in a matchup of familiar skipper Aaron Boone and new Texas hitting coach Bret Boone. Will Warren will man the bump against Patrick Corbin on Tuesday at 7:05pm ET.

Box Score