The final game of the 2025 Subway Series was another thrill ride and this one saw a long-awaited reversal of fortune for the Yankees.

Never mind that that it came against a Mets team that’s used duct tape and twine to hold together a pitching staff to get 27 outs every game. A win is a win is a win and the 6-4 triumph before 41,117 at Citi Field was the Yankees’ first in a week.

The Yankees built an early 5-0 lead with a two-run homer from Aaron Judge and a homer and two RBIs from Austin Wells. Then they kept turning away bids at a Mets comeback with a series of big pitches and big plays.

None was more impressive than leftfielder Cody Bellinger snagging Juan Soto’s sinking liner off the blades of grass and coming up to throw out Francisco Lindor retreating to first for a double play and the first two outs in the seventh. It kept the Yankees ahead by two runs and manager Aaron Boone called it “our play of the year.”

“That was incredible – I’ve never seen something like that on the field,” Aaron Judge said. “Perfect read on the ball, came in, shoestring catch and then to throw out Lindor. It's just all-around the perfect play.”

There were biggies that stood out. Starter Max Fried retired Soto and Pete Alonso to strand two runners and keep it a 5-2 game in the fifth. Judge made a diving catch on Starling Marte’s sinking flare to strand a runner on third and keep the score 5-4 in the sixth. And first baseman Paul Goldschmidt turned an unassisted double play at first.

The Mets never stopped coming at them until the Yankees took their last breath when Devin Williams struck out Lindor to end it for his 12th save. And that was after Mets manager Carlos Mendoza was ejected for vehemently protesting a called third strike on a low pitch to Luis Torrens for the first out in the ninth.

The Yankees halted their six-game losing streak in the midst of closing the ‘first half’ with a challenging stretch where they’re playing four sets against teams that appear playoff-bound. They will play three games apiece with the Mariners and then the Cubs before the All-Star break.

“A handful of guys did some really good things in that game,” Boone said. “Those ‘meet-the-moment’ kind of things that happen throughout the course of the year. You're going to be tested . . . You’re going to face moments of adversity and where you’ve got to (deliver) and I think it's all good prep . . . for hopefully when we're playing even more important games later in the year.”

The Mets saw their four-game winning streak snapped and ended up splitting the six-game season series, a series that surely leaves New Yorkers hoping for another in the postseason. The Mets appear to have righted what ailed them for three weeks as they close the ‘first half’ with sets against a pair of sub-.500 clubs in the Orioles and Royals.

The Mets have gotten creative with their injury-decimated pitching staff. They won Wednesday with an ‘opener’ before a ‘bulk’ reliever. They won Friday with a career minor-leaguer getting his first major league start. Sunday they tried to pull off a straight ‘bullpen game’ and get an inning or two from several non-starters, some that have joined the active roster in the last couple days.

Chris Devenski started and pitched two scoreless innings, but newly-signed Zach Pop and Brandon Waddell put them in the 5-0 hole.

The Yankees had their first choice starting in ace Fried (11-2, 2.27 ERA). The lefthander had pitched especially well in 11 previous turns where he’d followed a club loss. The Yankees had won nine of them with him 8-1 with a 1.34 ERA.

But the Mets did a fairly good job of driving Fried’s pitch-count up and they were able to begin their series of comeback bids against him in the bottom of the fifth. With one out Jeff McNeil, Hayden Senger and Marte had consecutive singles to load the bases and Lindor followed by driving a two-run single up the middle to make it 5-2. Then he fanned Soto and got Alonso to fly out.

He hit Brandon Nimmo with a pitch to start the six before coming out and ended up charged with three runs over his five-plus innings on six hits and a walk with five strikeouts.

Reliever Jonathan Loaisiga came on and gave up three straight singles to bring in Nimmo. He gave up another run when Senger hit into a 6-4-3 double play and then Judge made his diving catch to keep the score 5-4.

It was still 6-4 when Ronny Mauricio led off the eighth with a single and Brett Baty hit a hot shot toward Goldschmidt. He made the play, but Mauricio didn’t break for second and got tagged at the bag.

“Today, it came down to (we) didn't execute on the basepaths,” Lindor said of he and Mauricio getting doubled up. “I felt like (those) changed the momentum big-time there, but we all fought to the end . . . A couple of mistakes led to losing (and) mine definitely hurt.”