Maybe the Yankees have stopped the bleeding—and they have the Mets in part, to thank.
The Yankees swept the Mets in The Bronx, winning their third straight overall with a 4-2 victory Tuesday in front of another sellout crowd of 49,217.
But it came with plenty of tension before Wandy Peralta got Francisco Lindor to fly to center with the bases loaded to end it.
The Mets were down by two runs with two outs in the ninth, when pinch-hitter Tyler Naquin drew a walk against Clarke Schmidt.
Brandon Nimmo reached on an infield single and Starling Marte walked to load the bases and knock Schmidt out of the game.
Peralta came in and Lindor nearly tied the game, but his liner to left landed foul.
It came after the Yankees got a go-ahead single from Andrew Benintendi in the seventh.
With the game tied in the bottom of the seventh, Oswaldo Cabrera led off with a single up the middle and Isiah Kiner-Falefa bunted him to second.
Pinch-hitter Jose Trevino popped one down the right-field line, which Pete Alonso misplayed into a single.
Benintendi then delivered a single to left to put the Yankees ahead again, and Aaron Judge belted a two-out RBI single to make it 4-2.
After Judge swiped second, Anthony Rizzo was walked intentionally to load the bases for Glebyer Torres, who popped to center.
Schmidt walked Lindor and gave up a single to Alonso to start the eighth, but got Daniel Vogelbach to ground into a double play. With Lindor on third, Jeff McNeil lined out to right.
Judge also homered for a second straight game to give him 48 on the season, four shy of his career high set during his rookie season in 2017.
Frankie Montas had his best start as a Yankees, giving up two runs in 5 ²/₃ innings and the Yankees finally got to Taijuan Walker in the fourth inning after the Mets right-hander retired the first nine batters he faced in his first start since leaving his previous outing in Atlanta on Aug. 16 with back spasms.
Montas got through a 27-pitch first inning without allowing a run and pitched out of trouble again in the second — helped by a nice double play turned by Kiner-Falefa and Torres.
Montas then retired eight straight — including five strikeouts in a row.
DJ LeMahieu grounded into a double play in the fourth inning before Judge crushed a 3-2 pitch high into the left-field bleachers, a 453-foot, 115 mph shot that gave the Yankees a 1-0 lead.
Rizzo and Torres followed with two-out singles and Josh Donaldson walked to load the bases for Cabrera.
The rookie, in his seventh game in the majors, worked a full count and then walked to force in Rizzo and make it 2-0.
Mark Canha drilled a double to the wall in right-center in the fifth and Brett Baty reached on a catcher’s interference before Tomas Nido bunted both runners over for the top of the order.
Nimmo hit a liner right at LeMahieu at third for the second out and Marte singled to right to score Canha, but Baty was also sent and thrown out at home by Cabrera — in just his second game in right — to preserve the Yankees’ one- run lead, thanks also to a good tag from Kyle Higashioka.
But the Mets tied the game in the sixth.
Alonso singled with one out, and after Vogelbach flied to center, McNeil doubled to right-center. Alonso should have scored easily, but stumbled around third base and stopped between third and home. McNeil was also caught between second and third on the play, but Torres didn’t throw home and instead raced McNeil to second. McNeil beat him, allowing Alonso to score, as the Yankees botched the play.
With McNeil on second, Schmidt took over for Montas and Canha grounded out.
Baty singled to lead off the seventh and was colorful over by Nido. Nimmo hit one to the track in right-center, but Baty stayed put and Schmidt got Marte.
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