The Yankees (9-7) have ruled New York for quite some time now, but the Mets (13-3) think it's their turn now. The 2015 Subway Series will kick off tonight at 7:05 p.m. in the Bronx when Michael Pineda faces Jacob deGrom.
Both the New York clubs have been impressive as of late. The Yankees have won six of their last seven games after sweeping a three-game road series with the Tampa Bay Rays and then taking three out of four from the Tigers in Detroit. The Mets have won 11 straight and opened the 2015 season 10-0 at Citi Field.
However, all bets are off tonight when the Mets come to Yankee Stadium on Friday night. This will be the first interleague series of the young season for each club and it's perhaps the best pitching matchup of the weekend.
Pineda (2-0 with a 5.00 ERA and 1.33 WHIP) hopes to get back on track and settle down after two uncharacteristic starts against the Rays and Baltimore Orioles. He received wins in both of those contests, but surrendered eight earned runs on a total of 16 hits and one walk over just 12 innings. Last season the right-hander finished 5-5 with a 1.89 ERA and 0.825 WHIP in 13 starts.
Tonight will be the first time he faces the Mets in his career, considering he has always pitched in the American League on top of being significantly limited over the past three seasons because of injuries.
On the other hand, the reigning NL Rookie of the Year hopes to keep the Mets on a roll. deGrom (2-1 with a 0.93 ERA and 1.138 WHIP) will also face the Yankees for the first time in his career. As a rookie, the 26-year-old dazzled in 22 starts last season to finish 9-6 with a 2.69 ERA, 1.14 WHIP and 144 strikeouts (140 1/3 innings).
He's off to a fast start this season and hasn't given up a run in his last 18 1/3 innings.
But that may change tonight. The Yankees, who appeared to have a stagnant offense after the season's first series against the Toronto Blue Jays, have come alive and now rank second in the MLB in runs scored (85). Their most notable performance came this week against Tigers' starter David Price, who they shelled for eight earned runs through just 2 1/3 innings.
Alex Rodriguez, Mark Teixeira and Chris Young have combined for 13 home runs and 33 RBIs in the team's first 16 games, which couldn't be more of a surprise.
However, the Mets aren't too far behind and rank ninth in runs scored (73), even having been without third baseman David Wright for over a week now. The big difference has been the club's pitching staff, which ranks second in the MLB in ERA (2.81). The starting rotation, consisting of deGrom, Matt Harvey, Bartolo Colon, Jonathon Niese and Dillon Gee, is third in the MLB with a 2.82 ERA and first in wins with 11.
Whoever takes this weekend series will have official bragging rights until the two meet again in late September.
Check out the live stream of tonight's game here as well as the live radio broadcast here (if you're a Yankees fan) or here (if you're a Mets fan).
