A potential pitcher’s duel between former Yankees teammates instead turned into survival of the fittest.
Luis Severino wasn’t as sharp Friday as he frequently has been for the Mets, but he figured out how to be better than counterpart Jordan Montgomery, whose ugly start to the season and even more disastrous track record at Citi Field both continued in his new Diamondbacks uniform.
The Mets, who signed Severino but did not get involved in Montgomery’s surprisingly tepid free-agent market over the offseason, shelled the left-hander for eight runs on nine hits over four innings in a 10-9 victory.
“I feel like my sinker has just become BP [batting practice] right now,” Montgomery said. “I have to find a way to get it to move and be down in the zone. I feel like I’m just throwing and not even pitching anymore.”
It was clear from the onset that this was not going to be an ode to either pitcher’s best days in The Bronx, where they were part of the same rotation at times from 2017-21.
The Mets answered the Diamondbacks’ three-run first inning with a go-ahead four-run rally of their own.
“Tonight, best-case scenario is a 1-0 game and we win,” Montgomery said. “I always want the best for Sevy — to be healthy. I’m always rooting for him when he’s not pitching against us.”
Only one pitcher sort of settled in from there — and the Mets’ bullpen nearly choked it away by allowing four ninth-inning runs.
“The [hitters] came hot and backed me up there,” Severino said. “I want to throw a shutout, too, but I was fighting today.”
Severino (3-2) retired the side in order in the second and fourth innings and worked out of a two-on, two-out jam in the fifth as his velocity increased, allowing the Mets to build an 8-4 lead.
He was removed with one out in the sixth after his 97th pitch was turned around for a solo home run by Eugenio Suarez.
“I was feeling a little down the first couple innings, a little like … low energy,” said Severino, who refueled in the second inning with what he described as energy-boosting honey snacks. “It got me way better after that.”
Montgomery, who was a postseason star for the 2023 World Series champion Rangers, hasn’t yet found a groove after missing spring training.
He surrendered Starling Marte’s three-run triple, RBI doubles by Francisco Lindor and Pete Alonso, and RBI singles to Marte and Mark Vientos, raising his career ERA in three starts at Citi Field to 16.75.
“I feel like every time I’m here I give up a stinker,” Montgomery said. “I’ve just got to be better. No excuses.”
Montgomery (3-3) owns a 5.48 ERA in eight starts while pitching on a one-year, $25 million contract — about double the one-year, $13 million that Severino accepted after an injury-plagued finish to his Yankees career.
It was just the third time in 11 starts that Severino has allowed more than three earned runs (five), but all three are since May 5.
