In 2001, there was a moment of peace in the rivalry in the aftermath of the attacks in New York City. During the weekend of September 21–23, Shea Stadium hosted the first professional sporting event in New York City since the attacks when the Mets hosted the Atlanta Braves while Yankee Stadium hosted a special memorial service titled "Prayer for America."
On June 15, 2002, Roger Clemens faced the Mets for the first time at Shea Stadium since the Piazza controversy. Anticipation mounted about retalliation against Clemens. Mets manager Bobby Valentine chided Clemens by saying he wore a "skirt" when compared to past pitchers who threw hard at people like Bob Gibson and Don Drysdale because Clemens did not have to bat in the American League. When the game arrived, Clemens was forced to bat and Mets pitcher Shawn Estes attempted to hit Clemens in retaliation but instead threw a pitch behind Clemens, prompting the home plate umpire to warn both benches. Estes later homered off of Clemens as the Mets won the game 8-0.
2003 – the Yankees become the first and, as of 2011, only team to sweep the season series, winning all six games, including a two-park day-night doubleheader.
2004 – the Mets win the season series for the first time, going 4–2 and sweep the three games at Shea Stadium.
In 2005, the Mets signed Manager Willie Randolph, who coached with the Yankees for over a decade. Randolph played much of his career with the Yankees and also played for the Mets before retiring as a player. Because of his history with the Yankees championship teams of the 70s (as a player) and the 90s (as a coach), he holds a very cordial relationship with Yankee fans despite his tenure with the Mets organization, as noted by a Subway (a pun on the restaurant's name and the Subway Series) commercial featuring him and former Yankees manager Joe Torre, who had managed the Yankees during their most recent dynastic run. Torre had also been associated with the Mets as they were the last team he ever played for and the first team he ever managed.
On August 2, 2008, less than two months after his abrupt and controversial dismissal as Mets manager, Randolph was greeted with a standing ovation by the Yankee Stadium crowd when he appeared in a Yankees uniform for the Old-Timers' Game.
On June 26, 2005, the Mets won their first series at Yankee Stadium and were three outs from a sweep when Jason Giambi's bases loaded single off of Braden Looper in the ninth drove home the tying and winning runs for the Yankees, who forced a season series split with the Mets.
On May 19, 2006, in the first Subway Series of that year at Shea, the Yankees took the lead three times in the first four innings, but the Mets rallied each time against Randy Johnson and the game was tied 6-6 going into the bottom of the ninth. With two outs and runners on first and second, David Wright drives home the winning run for the Mets with a single off of Yankees' closer Mariano Rivera.
On May 20, 2006, less than 24 hours after the Mets' comeback win, Pedro Martinez and Duaner Sanchez kept the Yankees scoreless for eight winnings while the Mets score four runs off of Mike Mussina. In the top of the ninth, however, closer Billy Wagner, who pitched a perfect ninth the night before to get the win, gave up four runs to tie the game and force extra innings. In the top of the 11th, Andy Phillips singled in the go-ahead run for the Yankees while Mariano Rivera pitched two shutout innings for the win.
June 12, 2009: Both teams played each other for the first time at the new Yankee Stadium. The game had several lead changes, including Mariano Rivera giving up the go ahead run to the Mets in the 8th. In the bottom of the 9th, after Derek Jeter stole 2nd base and Mark Texiera was intentionally walked, the Mets new closer Francisco Rodriguez (K-Rod) paired off against Alex Rodriguez (A-Rod). In what seemed a routine pop with two outs, Mets 2nd baseman and three time gold glove award winner Luis Castillo dropped the ball. Texiera wound up scoring the winning run all the way from first on the error. It would prove to be the Yankees' 7th walk off game that season and the first statistical blown save for K-Rod as a Met.
June 14, 2009 – Francisco Rodriguez confronts Bruney during batting practice and are separated by teammates. The Yankees shutout the Mets 15–0 in the biggest blowout in the history of the series, tagging Met ace Johan Santana for nine runs in 3 1⁄3 innings, the most Santana has ever allowed in his career.
June 26, 2009 – The two teams played each other for the first time at Citi Field. Alex Rodriguez hit his 564th home run, moving past Reggie Jackson into 11th place on the career home run list. The Yankees defeat the Mets 9–1 after the Mets had committed three errors that led to four runs in the second inning, the most ever against the Yankees. June 28, 2009 – Yankees closer Mariano Rivera, who entered the game to face a batter in the 8th inning, bats against Mets closer Francisco Rodriguez at the top of the 9th inning. Rivera drew a walk with the bases loaded, forcing home Brett Gardner to earn his first career RBI. Rivera would go on to finish the game and earn his 500th career save as the Yankees swept the series at Citi Field.
May 22, 2010 - The Mets win their first Subway Series game at Citi Field with a 5-3 victory over the Yankees.
June 20, 2010 - The Yankees earn their 9,500th franchise victory with a 4-0 win over the Mets. Mark Texiera provided the only runs of the game with a third inning grand slam off of Johan Santana.
July 3, 2011 - The Mets, down to their final strike and on the verge of getting swept at Citi Field by the Yankees for the second time in three years, tie the final game of that year's Subway Series against Mariano Rivera in the bottom of the ninth on an RBI single from Ronny Paulino. In 23 previous save opportunities against the Mets, spanning the regular season and the 2000 World Series, Rivera had converted 22 (his only previous blown save against the team was on July 10, 1999). The Mets would win in the 10th inning on an RBI single from Jason Bay, who had been struggling all season, off of former Met pitcher Luis Ayala Manager Terry Collins called the game "enormous." The Yankees still won the season series 4 games to 2.
July 12, 2011 - Days after gaining entry into the 3,000 hit club, Yankee shortstop Derek Jeter elected to sit out of the 2011 Major League Baseball All-Star Game citing "physical and emotional exhaustion" and recovery from a recent visit to the disabled list. Jeter, who throughout his career had been praised by people in and out of baseball for good behavior, was criticized by some players and officials including Mets outfielder Carlos Beltran. Beltran stated that "I do believe, as a ballplayer, if you have no injuries, you should be here...the fans are the ones that vote for you and want to see you here." Mets shortstop José Reyes, who also was injured, also opined on the incident saying "I want to come no matter what happens."
Now that we got the brief history out of the way, lets break down this series by position and see who has the edge shall we.
First Base: This one seems almost not fair. Defensively its about even between Mark Teixeira and Ike Davis. But on the offensive side of the ball its really no contest. Teixeira is hitting .245 which is somewhat low but has delivered 10 homers and 33 RBI. His counterpart Ike Davis is hitting even worse, hitting on the interstate at a lowly .161 with 5 homers and 21 RBI. Like I said this one isn't even close. Edge: Yankees
Second Base: Again this one seems almost unfair to try and compare the two. With the Mets they are currently relying on Daniel Murphy to play second. Now don't get me wrong Murphy is a good ball player but really almost has to play second with Justin Turner being out with the ankle injury. Murphy right now is doing ok at the plate hitting .290 with 0 homers and 23 RBI's. In the field there are times he looks uncomfortable. As for Cano he hasn't put up the MVP type numbers he has in the past but still hitting .290 with 9 homers and 25 RBI. What makes this the easy choice is the fielding as by far Cano is the better of the two on defense. Edge: Yankees
Third Base: This one is closer to call than the first two positions. When it comes to hitting, Alex Rodrigues has put up better hitting numbers at home, hitting .316 compared to just .238 on the road. Overall A-Rod is hitting .290 with 9 homers and 22 RIB. As for David Wright he was on a tear at the start of the season but has cooled off a bit lately. On the season Wright is hitting .362 with 7 homers and 33RBI. On the other side of the ball Wright has had a slightly better fielding percentage than Rodrigues. Edge: Mets
Shortstop: This one has no debate what so ever to it. Derek Jeter is better in every aspect of the game than Omar Quintanilla. Edge: Yankees
Catcher: This one is somewhat close. Russel Martin is having a down year by his standards as he is only hitting .210 with 6 homers and 17 RBI. What would have made this debate more convincing for the Yankees is if they had a backup catcher. They traded Jesus Montero in the offseason and Fransisco Cervelli is down in the minors. As for the Mets they have a decent platoon in Josh Thole and Mick Nickeas. Thole is hitting .283 but hasn't really put up pwoer number, and Nickeas isn't much better. But because the Mets catchers seem to be able to call the game better then the Yankees. Edge: Mets
Left Field: Andrew Jones and Raul Ibanez are platooning in Left and DH'ing while the Mets are probably gonna go with Kirk Nieuwenhuis if Jason Bay isn't ready to go. With Ibanez you get 9 homers and 30 RBI while Jones has provided 5 Homers and 11 RBI. With Nieuwenhuis has 3 homers and 20 RBI but has a higher batting average. Of the two possible left fielders for each team, sorry but this one is easy to call. Edge: Yankees
Center Field: This one again seems a bit unfair to try and call. Andres Torres was supposed to be the Centerfielder for the Mets but due to injuries he is now being forced to split time with Nieuwenhuis. Neither guy for the Mets has been hitting much. meanwhile Curtis Granderson is blowing everybody out of the water in Centerfield and is on pace for another 40+ Homer 100+ RBI season. Again this is a no contest. Edge: Yankees
Right Field: This is a bit closer out of the outfield positions. Nick Swisher has done an OK job in the field and with a bat in his hands he is hitting .250 with 8 Homers and 35RBI's. Meanwhile his counterpart Lucas Duda has been on about even par with Swisher in the field, but Duda has the edge with the bat in his hands. Duda is hitting .262 with 10 homers and 35 RBI and has had a bigger impact on the Mets lineup then Swisher has on the Yankees. Edge: Mets
Final Series Analysis:
Game One: Johan Santana ( 3-2 2.38 ERA) vs Hiroki Kuroda (4-6 3.82 ERA). This may be the only series the Mets have a REAL solid chance in this series. The big question mark is how well can Santana go after having the full week off since throwing the No-Hitter last friday. The Mets can steal this one by a score of 4-2.
Game Two: Dillon Gee (4-3 4.48 ERA) vs Phil Hughes (5-5 4.96 ERA) This one may be a decent pitching matchup because these two pitchers are the closest to each other in style in that you never know which pitcher is actually gonna show up on any given day. If Bay is in the lineup he has lit up Hughes in the past and that will help the Mets but since Bay hasn't played in a while Yankees take this one 5-2.
Game Three: Jon Neise ( 4-2 4.11 ERA) vs. Andy Pettite (3-2 2.78) David Wright is the only Met in this lineup that has been able to even remotly handle Pettie. Yankees win this one 4-1.
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