NEW YORK — The Mets tend to be synonymous with the words “chaos” and bizarre” at times. One of those times was Saturday at Yankee Stadium when chaos took center stage in a bizarre Subway Series game. The Yankees came out on top in a 7-6 win to even the series. Sonny Gray (7-7) was granted a temporary reprieve from his 2018 slide when he limited the Mets to three runs (two earned) over 5 1/3 innings, earning his second win in a row, but the focus was less on Gray and the Yankees and more on the visitors' side. The forecast didn’t call for a storm system until about 5 p.m., but it’s impossible to forecast the Mets. A walking storm all on their own, this one hit about 10:30 a.m., when manager Mickey Callaway gave a pregame press conference that SNY broadcaster and former Mets great Ron Darling said was the most uncomfortable he had ever been in. The story continues below the gallery. It only got worse once the game started and his hitting coach and designated hitter were ejected, his starting pitcher lit up and his center fielder unable to field. After going down 4-1 in the fourth, the Mets scored twice in the sixth to make it 4-3 and chased Gray from the game, but the Yankees scored in the sixth, seventh and eighth innings. Aroldis Chapman gave the Mets a chance when he melted down in the ninth inning. He failed to get an out, walking in a run and hitting Brandon Nimmo with the bases loaded to make it 7-5. Chasen Shreve got Devin Mesoraco to ground into a run-scoring double play. Down to their last out, Wilmer Flores hit a slow roller to Shreve to end the game. "I just think it's one of those hiccups that happen over the course of the year," Yankees manager Aaron Boone said of Chapman. "We'll certainly check with him and monitor him closely." The Mets had a 1-0 lead after Michael Conforto led off the second inning with a home run off Gray, but it was brief. At the end of the third, hitting coach Pat Roessler was ejected for arguing with home plate umpire Larry Vanover. A big fourth inning by the Yankees did in Steven Matz and the Mets and the Yankees went up 4-1. Frustrations boiled over for the visitors in the fifth and Asdrubal Cabrera was tossed after striking out to end the inning. Cabrera wanted a checked swing. The umpires wanted him out of the game. "They’re grown men," Callaway said. "They had to say what they had to say and do what they had to do. I think they’re just fighting to try to win a game." With Jeurys Familia on his way out the door to Oakland and Yoenis Cespedes in a standoff with the organization regarding heel surgery, Mesoraco took his spot in the lineup as the designated hitter, sparing any further chaos. Den Dekker The fourth inning was where the game was won for the Yankees and lost for the Mets. The ultra-deep Yankees’ lineup smoked balls off Matz and sent them to center, where Matt den Dekker misplayed three of them. With one on and one out, Didi Gregorius tripled past two diving outfielders, den Dekker and Brandon Nimmo in right field to score Giancarlo Stanton and tie the game at 1. Den Dekker got a bad read and took an even worse route. "I thought the angle just didn't do him any favors," Callaway said. "And all the running around kind of took its toll, I think, especially on that last one. He was trying to come in on that blooper and just didn't quite get to it." Miguel Andujar's ground-rule double to right field was caught by a fan and the Yankees scored one more. Greg Bird then hit one over den Dekker's head and two batters later, den Dekker came up short in pursuit of shallow hit by Austin Romine. The reserve center fielder, up from Triple-A because of injuries to Cespedes and Juan Lagares, also went 0-for-3 at the plate to extend his hitless streak to 17 at-bats. Matz The Mets lefty was dealt his third straight loss, allowing five earned runs on nine hits, walking one and striking out three. More:Mets deal Jeurys Familia to Oakland for pair of prospects Yankees:NY Yankees bring up Domingo Acevedo while NY Mets can't make roster decision Popper:Yoenis Cespedes saga goes south again on Mets Gray skies Lost in the Mets' drama was the performances of Gray and Shreve, two pitchers the Yankees would not only like to see get on track in the second half of the season but need to see get on track. Gray kept the Mets at bay while Shreve picked up Chapman in a big way. “I thought he was in a pretty good rhythm early and he made some pretty good pitches. I didn’t think he was necessarily great today but that’s the encouraging outing you want to see," Boone said. "When Sonny isn’t at his best, he should still go out and pitch like he did today into the sixth inning. He was probably a pitch or two from getting through six innings unscathed.” More Mets and Yankees news Yankees:Domingo German exposes Yankees' rotation needs in narrow loss to the Mets Sports:Yoenis Cespedes returns with home run to help NY Mets beat Yankees Popper:Noah Syndergaard focused on health, not trades in Brooklyn test<doc-sep>Cespedes (heel) is out of the lineup for the second straight game Monday against the Padres. Cespedes returned from a hip injury Friday but was held out of Saturday's game after revealing that he may need surgery to deal with calcification in his heels. He was not in Sunday's lineup either, though that game ended up being rained out. He is expected to visit a specialist early this week, at which point a clearer timeline should emerge.<doc-sep>
Al Bello/Getty Images It was just a couple of weeks ago that New York Yankees closer Aroldis Chapman was named to his fifth All-Star team, but playing in the Bronx means he lives in a "What have you done for me lately?" world. If he didn't know that before this weekend, he certainly does now. Chapman entered Saturday's game against the New York Mets with a four-run lead in the ninth. He faced a total of five batters, throwing 19 pitches, with only three finding the strike zone. His final line? 0.0 innings pitched, one hit, three walks, one hit by pitch and three runs allowed. That ugly outing led to him getting booed off the mound. For as many strikeouts as the hard-throwing southpaw piles up, he has always been prone to wildness. He has walked 4.0 batters per nine frames in his career and now has 19 in 40 innings this season. Chapman pulled out of Tuesday's All-Star game due to tendinitis in his left knee. Rather than blame the injury for his struggles, the 30-year-old called it "just a bad day," via the Yes Network: Video Play Button Videos you might like After all, he entered the day with a 1.35 ERA, a 0.825 WHIP and 26 saves in 27 opportunities. He had not allowed a run since July 1. As a result of his latest outing, his earned run average ballooned above 2.00 (2.03, to be exact) for the first time since April. Fortunately for Chapman, Chasen Shreve was able to come in and save the day for the Yankees on Saturday, closing the door on a 7-6 victory. That helped minimize the impact of the rough outing. Yankees manager Aaron Boone will need to keep an eye on Chapman for the time being. While it was only an exhibition that the reliever missed because of the knee injury, this was his first outing of the second half. If the Yankees are going to raise banner No. 28, having their shutdown closer healthy and effective will be key. New York (63-34) currently sits five games behind the Boston Red Sox in the American League East, but it also has an 8.5-game lead in the wild-card race. That means the Yankees could take a cautious approach if it means getting Chapman healthy, should his struggles continue.