5 things to watch as Mets face Yankees in Subway Series at Citi Field

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.

3. Can Alvarez keep his power surge going?

With Alonso out of the lineup, Francisco Alvarez has stepped up for the Mets offense. After a bit of a slump at the plate, the young slugger has settled back into a groove and continues to showcase his big-time power.

Bumped up to the second spot in the order, Alvarez has homered four times over his last six games and driven in six runs. He is up to 12 long balls on the season, which is one behind Salvador Perez, who is leading the major league among catchers.

He’s also posted six doubles, 25 RBI, and a .836 OPS through 44 games played. Alvarez has also turned it on defensively, which was the one knock on his game, recording his sixth caught stealing of the season this weekend.

Plain and simple, he has been one of the top catchers in baseball since being called up.

After being a bit overmatched early on, both this season and last, Alvarez has found his footing and looks very comfortable at the big-league level. He’ll look to keep that going in the first Subway Series appearance of his career.

4. Mismatch in the bullpens?

The Yankees certainly seem to have the edge in this series when it comes to the bullpens. Aaron Boone’s pen has been one of the best in baseball this season.

After a rough start to the season, Clay Holmes has found his footing and has allowed just one run over his last 18 appearances. Wandy Peralta has been extremely tough on lefties, holding them to just a .031 average this season. Ron Marinaccio and Michael King have been solid and Tommy Kahnle is back from injury.

The Mets, on the other hand, have been struggling of late.

Aside from David Robertson and Brooks Raley, there aren’t many arms Buck Showalter can trust out there.

Drew Smith’s slider has been crushed all year, yet he continues to lean on the pitch and he’s allowed six runs over his last seven outings. Adam Ottavino still can’t hold runners on and he has a 4.21 ERA on the year.

Jeff Brigham has been solid but he can’t really be trusted in high-leverage situations. Then the last few spots in that pen have been a bit of a revolving door all season, though lefty Josh Walker was impressive in a two inning appearance on Sunday.

The bullpen usage and performance is definitely something to keep an eye on in this series.

5. Wham, Bam, Tommy Pham

With Alonso on the IL, Mark Canha has seen more playing time at first, leading to more of a full-time role for Pham. He's started each of the last four games and has taken advantage of the opportunity.

After a bit of a slow start at the plate, Pham has been extremely productive for the Mets offense of late.

He’s launched three of his six homers and is hitting .318 with 13 RBI and a 1.072 OPS over his last 15 games. He’s also added four walks and four stolen bases to go along with a .367 on-base percentage.

Pham’s been hitting the ball hard all season and the Mets felt it was only a matter of time before it started paying off. They're finally starting to see the expected results from him.

Pham’s now up to a .246 average with 15 extra-base hits (six homers), six stolen bases, 22 RBI, and a .817 OPS on the season.

Like Alvarez, he’s been a nice little spark plug for this team when they’ve needed it the most. We’ll see if the two of them can keep it going in this two-game set against the Yankees.