The scene around the diamond looked a little different when the New York Yankees travelled to Citi Field to take on the New York Mets in Saturday night’s exhibition game.
Players donned masks in the dugouts. High fives were prohibited. Cardboard cutouts filled the first few rows of the stands, and broadcasters Eduardo Perez and Karl Ravech called the game virtually.
It was baseball, COVID-19 style.
The odd circumstances didn’t affect the Yankees. They came out swinging— literally. Center fielder Mike Tauchman led off with a double that shortstop Gleyber Torres capitalized on during the next play. He nailed a single to left field that knocked Tauchman in and put the Yankees up, 1-0.
In the fourth inning, a mask-wearing Clint Frazier smashed a two run home run to extend their lead to 3-0. The right fielder has been outspoken about his decision to wear a face covering while on the field. “There are people in our organization that I’m trying to be respectful toward,” he recently told NJ.com. He sees baseball as his platform to influence others, adding, “If there is somebody out there that sees me wearing a mask, maybe they’ll do it as well.”
The Mets trimmed the lead to 3-1 in the bottom of the fourth inning thanks to an RBI double by J.D. Davis, but pitcher Michael King responded by leaving two runners stranded in scoring position. He finished the day with 40 strikes on 59 pitches over the course of four innings, according to the Yankees’ box score.
Several pitchers made relief appearances, including Zack Britton, who gave up an RBI single to Pete Alonso. His hit allowed the Mets to further narrow the lead to 3-2.
Right fielder Giancarlo Stanton scored another run in the sixth, and the Yankees put the game away in the ninth. They scored five runs in the top of the inning to go up 9-2.
Mets third baseman Eduardo Nunez countered with an RBI single to make the final score 9-3.
The Yankees will face the Mets again tonight at home. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 PM.
A Day in the Life of Robyn 