The lead story: The Yankees stink again. They’ve dropped four of five now after Shohei Ohtani’s three-run blast — aided by errors from Josh Donaldson and Isiah Kiner-Falefa — ruined a strong start by Gerrit Cole in a 3-2 loss in Anaheim.
The sidebar: Timmy Trumpet played the trumpet. Edwin Diaz slammed the door shut in the ninth. And the Mets evened their series with the Dodgers, winning 2-1 behind a typical Jacob deGrom performance and an incredible catch by Brandon Nimmo to rob Justin Turner of a home run.
The standings: The Yankees (79-52) have a six-game lead on the Rays for first place in the AL East. The loss column edge is five games. They also have a 9.5-game lead on the Guardians for the No. 2 seed in the AL (eight in the loss column). They are five games back of the Astros for home field advantage in the AL (five in the loss column).
The Mets (83-48) have a three-game lead on the Braves atop the NL East (standings and loss column). Their lead on the Cardinals for the No. 2 seed in the NL is seven games (standings and loss column). And they trail the Dodgers for the NL’s top seed by eight games (nine in the loss column).
The schedule: The Yankees are off. And the Mets will wrap up their three-game series with the Dodgers with a 4:10 p.m. getaway game at Citi Field.
More on ESNY:
• How New York legend Regis Philbin befuddled McDonald’s employees
• Craig Carton’s new FS1 show has name, start date; remains a bit mysterious
• Should Giants have kept Tom Coughlin? Mike Francesa weighs in
• Darius Slayton jokes about trade rumor with Giants future in doubt
• Stephen A. Smith says Knicks’ ‘soft’ Leon Rose is ‘scared’ of media
• Mike Francesa has well-timed thoughts on ‘guy talk’ vs. ‘sports talk’
James Kratch can be reached at james.kratch@xlmedia.com
