"Are we in the midst of a major comeback for the Mets and a total collapse by the Yankees?"
WFAN's Boomer Esiason posed that very question Wednesday after the the Mets won their fifth straight game Tuesday and the Yankees lost for the sixth time in their last nine outings.
The Mets overcame another Edwin Diaz blown save to beat the Chicago White Sox 5-2 in 11 innings. Jeff McNeil and Michael Conforto hit back-to-back homers in the 11th to win it. The Mets (51-55) now sit five games out of the second-wild card spot in the National League.
The Yankees, meanwhile, managed just five hits against Arizona in a 4-2 loss. The Yankees (67-39) still have a 7½-game lead over Tampa Bay for the American League East, but Esiason wondered if an extended cold streak could be in the cards for the Bombers.
"The Yankees are in a slump," Esiason said on the "Boomer and Gio" show. "And now they get another injury with Luke Voit. He's got a core muscle injury. You know, these things last like six to eight weeks. You've got (Gio) Urshela playing first base. They didn't want to play (DJ) LeMahieu last night 'cause he's still coming off like a little dinger (groin injury). I mean, my god, it's all falling apart right now for the Yankees. I kind of feel like it is. And they couldn't get Trevor Bauer. Trevor Bauer gets traded to the Reds.
"And now you've got the Flushing Five," Esiason continued, referring to the Mets' rotation of Jacob deGrom, Noah Syndergaard, Zack Wheeler, Steven Matz and the newly acquired Marcus Stroman. "This is what I'm calling them -- the Flushing Five over there. And Syndergaard showed everybody last night that, look, man, if you trade me, you're idiots. So it doesn't look like he's going to be moved at any point in time, and he put forth a gem last night."
Syndergaard allowed one unearned run and five hits over 7 1/3 innings against the White Sox.
Jerry Recco, filling in for Gregg Giannotti on Wednesday, disagreed with any suggestion that the Yankees are falling apart.
"They've also got guys coming back," he said. "You'll get LeMahieu coming back. It's not like guys are going to be out forever. The Voit thing, no question that hurts, for sure, but the Yankees are what they are right now. They're at a little bump in the road."
