In the rubber match of the New York Mets-New York Yankees Subway Series on Sunday Night Baseball, fans were on the edges of their seats watching a heated duel. Entering the bottom of the eighth inning, despite some stumbles from both clubs, the game was still deadlocked at 2-2. Mets fans were hoping to break that tie and give Juan Soto a return to the Bronx to remember. Instead, his new lineup protection in Pete Alonso made a blunder that sent the Mets into a tailspin.
With one out and runners on second and third, pinch-hitting Jorbit Vivas was at the dish against Mets reliever Ryne Stanek. He hit a grounder right to Alonso and the first baseman tried to keep things knotted up by firing the ball home to get the out there.
Instead, he fired it a mile away from any glove and into the backstop, giving the Yankees the lead.
Even worse for the Mets, that only opened up the floodgates for the Yankees. Goldschmidt singled on the next at-bat to make it 4-2 in favor of the home team. That then helped set up Cody Bellinger to do what Aaron Judge was unable to, namely depositing a pitch over the right field fence for a grand slam to put the game all but out of reach for the visiting Mets.
Pete Alonso's error crushes Mets, ruins Juan Soto's return
The Mets got out of the eighth inning without any more damage thereafter but, with only a half inning to erase an 8-2 advantage, everyone knew where this was all going. And it's also as nightmarish of an ending to the Subway Series as Mets fans could possibly imagine given all of the storylines, particularly with Soto, coming into this matchup.
Yankees fans were none too kind to Soto during his return, booing him relentlessly, trolling him whenever possible, and celebrating the fact that the $765 million man didn't exactly enjoy a great series while facing his former team. There was also the fact that Soto himself stirred up some controversy earlier this season when he made comments about no longer having Yankees star Aaron Judge in the lineup to protect him anymore.
Subsequently, it would've been a big boost for Soto and the Mets alike to get this series win and even more so if Alonso had been on the other side of this, making a play to help stop the Yankees from taking the final game of the set. Instead, the new lineup protection for Soto ultimately cost his team Sunday's game and the series.
Without question, the Mets are still going to be a great baseball team after one of 162 games in the regular season. At the same time, though, if there are moral victories in professional sports, that inherently means that there are also moral losses. Losing a winnable game in such mindless and careless fashion feels like it definitely qualifies as a moral loss, one that spoils what could've been a triumphant weekend for Mets fans.