You just get the feeling that there are going to be some titanic tussles between the New York Mets and the New York Yankees over the next few years.
With Steve Cohen's backing the Mets at last have a powerhouse owner to try and match the Yankees' international standing.
The Mets showed that they are not the pushovers they once were with a dominant performance in the two-game series win over the Yankees at Citi Field towards the end of July.
This mini-Subway Series promises to be an absolute cracker though at the cauldron of the Yankee Stadium in the Bronx.
The Mets had an epic win over the Philadelphia Phillies on Sunday, while the Yankees put their recent poor form aside to beat the Toronto Blue Jays and avoid being swept by their divisional rivals.
What | New York Mets @ New York Yankees, Game One of Two |
| Where | Yankee Stadium, Bronx, New York City, NY |
| When | 00:05 BST, Tuesday 23rd August 2022 |
How to watch | BT Sport, MLB.TV, bet365 Sports Live Streaming platform |
| Odds | New York Mets 5/8, New York Yankees 7/5 |
Yankees pick up win following struggles
Sunday's win over the Toronto Blue Jays was just a reminder to the Yankees roster that they are good players despite their recent form.
The Bronx Bombers have won just three of the last 12 games and only five in the month of August alone. Their form has dropped off a cliff just when most Divisional leaders are priming themselves for the big finish.
Yankees manager Aaron Boone was extremely angry following Saturday night's loss, questioning that the winning post was "right in front of us".
With Boone's words ringing in the players' ears, they then produced a fine win over the Blue Jays to save a series sweep.
Outfielder Andrew Benintendi hit his first home run for the Yankees following his trade from the Kansas City Royals.
Nestor Cortes threw six-innings giving up just one run and Lou Trivino secured the final seven outs in front of a sold-out Yankee Stadium crowd of 46,958.
Going into Sunday, the Yankees' form had been poor. They had scored 2.9 runs per game and hit .219 as a team in August, both third-worst in the American League, while their lead in the Division continued to shrink.
From the Yankees' perspective, they hope Sunday's win is the catalyst to move forward and win the Division and more.
Boone can welcome back slugger Giancarlo Stanton to the line-up soon and that should give the whole clubhouse a huge boost.
Mets looking to Scherzer to shine
It's about time New York had two baseball teams fighting for honours. The Yankees haven't won the World Series since 2009, while the Mets haven't lifted the Commissioner's Trophy since 1986.
New York has always had its baseball superstars though, from the Yankees' Babe Ruth to the Mets' Tom Seaver.
Aaron Judge is the current Yankees fans' favourite, while evergreen pitcher Max Scherzer is rolling back the years in his first season with the Mets.
Scherzer takes the mound in the first game of the Subway Series on Monday night. The 37-year old has a 9-2 record in 17 starts with a 2.15 ERA and 134 strikeouts.
Scherzer was excellent in his last start against the Atlanta Braves, pitching 6.1 innings, striking out 8 despite giving up four earned runs.
The Yankees will send Domingo German to pitch Game 1. The 29-year-old has struggled this year, with a 1-2 record and a 4.45 ERA.
The Mets have had tough run of games recently, they have faced the Phillies and the Braves and now will conclude their road-trip (if you can call a seven-mile journey across the city) at Yankee Stadium.
Mets manager Buck Showalter is a former Yankee captain and managed them from 1992-1995.
The 66-year-old was full of praise for his former team as he spoke to the official Mets website, saying: "Good club, a really good team. We just played one, we played one in Atlanta and we'll play another good one tomorrow. We'll grind it for nine innings and see what the baseball gods do."
Head-to Head
The Mets won four of the six games played between the two sides last season, including two of the three-game series at Yankee Stadium.
The Mets were also excellent in their two-game series win over the Yankees earlier in the current campaign.
However, they will have to be at their best again at a raucous Yankee Stadium against a Bronx team that's hurting at the moment.
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