FLUSHING, NY — To open up the second and final installment of the Subway Series for the 2025 regular season between New York’s baseball crosstown rivals, the Yankees and Mets, on the Fourth of July at Citi Field, fans just getting situated in their seats were treated with a firework show featuring three home runs in the first inning.
Typically too early for any Fourth of July fireworks as first pitch was at 3:10 PM ET, however, Yankees’ lead-off hitter Jasson Domínguez, of Esperanza, Dominican Republic, got the show started for Friday afternoon’s crowd of 41,216, smacking a 380-foot solo home run off of Mets’ rookie right-hander Justin Hagenman on a 3-2, 94-MPH sinker.
Image Credit: Bill Menzel/Latino Sports
Image Credit: Bill Menzel/Latino Sports
Before fans could settle back into their seats, the two-time American League MVP and Yankee captain Aaron Judge, the most dangerous hitter in the game, posting a .364 batting average, 1.208 OPS, with 31 home runs prior to Friday, blasted his 32nd HR of the season—a 428-foot solo-shot on a 2-2, 94-MPH sinker, which left the yard at an exit velocity of 109-MPH.
For Mets fans in the building, their spirits suddenly dropped, trailing 2-0 in a matter of minutes (11 pitches) while pinstripe faithful gave them the business with friendly back and forth banter.
Image Credit: Bill Menzel/Latino Sports
Image Credit: Bill Menzel/Latino Sports
The momentum then shifted for the orange and blue as Hagenman, marking his first-career MLB start and third-ever appearance in the pros, escaped the first-inning jam, paving way for the Mets’ turn and particularly Juan Soto’s to get even.
During his walk from the on deck circle to the plate with one-runner on and one out—the 26-year-old two-time LatinoMVP from Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, and center of attention in this year’s Subway Series due to his decision of departing the Yankees for the Mets in free agency this past offseason on a 15-year/$765 million deal—heard a blend of boos and applause from the Yankee-Met New York mixed crowd in Queens.
Image Credit: Bill Menzel/Latino Sports
Image Credit: Bill Menzel/Latino Sports
At one point where Yankees’ starter Marcus Stroman had Soto at an 0-2 count and fans from both sides on their feet—the right-hander threw a low and outside splitter to get to 1-2, which was followed by Soto casually preparing for the next pitch—and one Yankee fan yelling at that very moment from his seat in Section 319, ‘where is that Soto Shuffle now?’
On the next pitch, a 89-MPH cutter, Soto clobbered it 393 feet to deep left-center field to tie the game at two, causing more early fireworks.
Image Credit: Bill Menzel/Latino Sports
“You (got to) appreciate the show from both teams from the very first at-bat of the game, Jasson goes out there and goes the other way and then Judgey back to back,” said Mets’ manager Carlos Mendoza of the first-inning after the 6-5 win. “Then Soto to punch back—it’s what you expect out of games like this. Subway Series, packed house, fan bases are intense going at each other.”
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