NEW YORK — To get a good idea of how fickle the fates of baseball can be, let’s flash back to July 17: The Yankees had just completed 14-1 and 13-2 routs of the Red Sox to forge a 64-28 record, by far the best in baseball, 4.5 games ahead of the Astros. At the same time, the Mets lost the first of three straight games to the Cubs and Padres that would shrink their National League East to a half-game over the Braves, the smallest since April 12.
Right after that, the Yankees lost Michael King for the season with an elbow injury and Matt Carpenter for at least most of the rest of the season with a broken foot — while Giancarlo Stanton went off to the All-Star Game, won MVP honors, and hasn’t been seen since. By contrast, Buck Showalter’s Mets, bolstered by the trade deadline acquisitions Daniel Vogelbach, Tyler Naquin and Darin Ruff (combined .348 with five homers and 22 RBI entering the weekend) along with the return of Jacob deGrom, have won 15 out of 18 since July 23 to surpass the Yankees with the best record in New York.
After getting off to one of the best starts in their history, it sure did look like the Yankees were on the fast track to get to their first World Series since 2009, with only the Astros and a likely ALCS matchup looming in their path. Now it’s a wonder if Showalter’s Mets might have the better chance of going to the Series.
