The Mets and Yankees face off in the first two games of the Subway Series starting on Tuesday night at Citi Field.
Last year, they split the four-game series two games a piece, with the home team sweeping each time. When they played at Citi, the Mets won 6-3 and then 3-2 on a Starling Marte walk-off on Sunday Night Baseball.
The Mets have been playing some bad baseball of late, dropping three consecutive series to the Toronto Blue Jays, Atlanta Braves, and Pittsburgh Pirates.
They were able to bring their losing streak to an end with a win on Saturday, but have lost eight of their last nine. They currently sit four games under the .500 mark and 9.5 games back in the NL East.
The Yankees are coming off a home series loss to the division rival Boston Red Sox. They've lost six of their last 10 but are still nine games over .500 and own the second AL Wild Card spot.
Here are five things to watch in this series…
1. How will the Mets' aces respond?
Last week, the Mets had their two aces lined up to face the Braves in a huge series at Truist Park. After dropping the first game in frustrating fashion, all seemed fine with those two ready to roll.
However, things didn’t quite go as planned.
Max Scherzer pitched well for five innings, striking out nine, but then ran out of gas. Leading 4-1 in the bottom of the sixth, the righty allowed four runs, putting Atlanta back in front for good.
The next day, Justin Verlander took the mound looking to avoid the sweep, and he fared just as poorly. The Braves jumped on him early and often, putting up three runs on four hard hit balls in the bottom of the first.
The Mets would rally back, but Verlander allowed two more runs in the third before his night came to an end. New York, of course, went on to lose 13-10 in extra innings on an Ozzie Albies walk-off homer.
Combined, the pair of future Hall of Famers threw just 8.2 innings and allowed 10 runs, nine earned, on 18 hits, four walks, and 13 strikeouts.
That’s nowhere near the performance the Mets and Mets fans were hoping for in such a big series. The pair will have a shot at some quick redemption, though, as they're lined up to take the ball in both games this series.
Scherzer will face off with Luis Severino in the first game on Tuesday and Verlander goes against Gerrit Cole in what should be a tremendous pitchers' duel on Wednesday.
2. Man down on both sides
Both the Mets and Yankees are without their big bopper for this two-game set.
Aaron Judge remains on the IL without a timeline for a return from a sprained toe. The star outfielder suffered the injury during a collision with the outfield wall on a great catch in a win over the Dodgers.
Prior to his absence, Judge was on a tear at the plate, hitting .340 with eight of his 18 hits leaving the park, 14 RBI, and a 1.346 OPS over his last 15 games. He has 19 homers, 10 doubles, 40 RBI, and a 1.078 OPS on the season.
In his absence, the Yankees offense has struggled.
The Mets have also been feeling the loss of Pete Alonso, which couldn't have come at a worse time.
Alonso was placed on the IL on Friday due to a bone bruise and sprained left wrist. The big man took a 97 mph Charlie Morton fastball directly to his wrist last week.
The team expects him to be sidelined about 3-4 weeks.
Alonso was in the midst of a tremendous season, leading all of baseball with 22 home runs, while ranking first in the NL with 49 RBI. He's been especially productive over his last 20 games, homering nine times with 18 RBI and a .940 OPS.
Both the Mets and Yanks certainly could use their big bat back in the lineup. It'll be interesting to see how they fare without them in this two game set.
