If you are the sort who believes that inter-league play is silly and unnecessary and unfair, we understand your points and have still already stopped listening to you. We still think it’s kind of fun and cute when the Astros play the Rays — whoa, worlds colliding! — so a Mets-Yankees series is certainly enough to keep us occupied. Though it seems like every time a series begins, it’s a “critical” series for the Mets to make sure their season doesn’t “spiral out of control.” We imagine the Yankees like the Subway Series a lot more than the Mets do.
The Yankees bring the longer losing streak into the game, though mostly because they were playing the Rays and the Mets were playing the Nationals. But whatever: If the season had started two days ago, the Yankees would be in So Much Trouble right now.
The pitching matchups do not favor the Mets, but they’re still tossing out their two best guys, and it’s closer than you might think. Tonight’s “spot” starter is Hisanori Takahashi, facing against Javier Vazquez; it’s kind of funny that both of those guys are coming from the bullpen now. Saturday is an intriguing Mike Pelfrey–Phil Hughes matchup, and then the big dogs face off Sunday night: Johan Santana versus CC Sabathia.
This series is a lot more fun with both teams atop their divisions … but it’s still pretty great. It’s like a Subway ad come to life!