Beltran, McCann homer to back Pineda as Yankees blank Mets
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}NEW YORK, NY - SEPTEMBER 19: Jacoby Ellsbury #22 and Brett Gardner #11 of the New York Yankees celebrate with Carlos Beltran #36 after Beltran drove them all in with a home run in the first inning against the New York Mets during interleague play on September 19, 2015 at Citi Field in the Flushing neighborhood of the Queens borough of New York City. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)
Carlos Beltran hit a three-run, second-deck home run on a 100-mph fastball from Noah Syndergaard in the first inning, Michael Pineda pitched his best game in two months and the New York Yankees beat the Mets 5-0 on Saturday to rebound from an opening loss in the weekend Subway Series.
Brian McCann added a two-run homer in the sixth, the Yankees' 200th home run this season, to quiet the sellout crowd of 43,630 at Citi Field on a sunny late-summer afternoon.
The Mets started the day eight games ahead of Washington in the NL East. The Yankees began the day 4 1/2 games behind AL East-leading Toronto but four games in front of Houston for the first AL wild card.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Pineda (11-8) had struggled since returning from a month on the disabled list caused by a right forearm strain. He allowed four singles in 5 1/3 innings to win for just the second time since the All-Star break.
Syndergaard (8-7) gave up five runs in six innings.