New York Mets - Young hurlers take mound in Subway Series finale lyrics

Young hurlers take mound in Subway Series finale The annual Subway Series is an exciting time in New York, but Thursday's finale of an extended set between the Mets and Yankees will be even more special for a pair of hurlers scheduled to make their Major League debuts. The Yankees turn to Chase Whitley on Thursday night as they try to earn a split with the Mets and Jacob deGrom at Citi Field. The Mets pounded out 21 runs in taking the first two meetings of this series at Yankee Stadium, but were blanked 4-0 in last night's contest in Flushing. That victory snapped a six-game series losing streak to the Mets for the Bronx Bombers, who debut the 24-year-old Whitley in place of CC Sabathia. With Sabathia out with what is being termed as degenerative changes in his knee, the right-handed Whitley gets the call after a solid start to his season with Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. Whitley is 3-2 with a 2.39 earned run average in seven games this season, including six starts, and has gone 15-9 with four saves and a 3.05 ERA over parts of three seasons with the minor league club, making 77 appearances. Thirteen of those games have been starts for Whitley and he is 4-1 with a 1.38 ERA in that role. The Mets had expected for Dillon Gee to toe the rubber tonight, but those plans changed when he was placed on the disabled list Wednesday due to a strained right lat muscle. Instead, deGrom will get the start after getting recalled from Triple-A Las Vegas earlier this week to bolster the bullpen. The right-handed deGrom went 4-0 with a 2.58 ERA in seven starts at Triple A this season. The 25-year-old has made 58 career starts in the minors, going 21-11 with a 3.62 ERA. DeGrom will become the second Mets pitcher to make his Major League debut in this series after Rafael Montero got the start in last night's shutout loss. He gave up three runs on five hits over six innings, but got zero offensive support as the Mets had a three-game winning streak snapped. "I thought he threw the ball well, gave us six innings," Mets second baseman Daniel Murphy said of Montero. "I thought he did a great job. I'm excited about what he's got going forward." The Yankees got exactly what they needed from Masahiro Tanaka on the mound to snap an overall four-game losing streak. Tanaka logged the first shutout of his Major League career, scattering four hits while fanning eight to improve to 6-0 on the season. Tanaka also got his first career hit in the contest and remained unbeaten in his last 42 regular-season starts dating back to his time in Nippon Professional Baseball. He is 34-0 since Aug. 19, 2012 and also became the first Yankees rookie to throw a shutout since Orlando Hernandez in 1998. "I thought Tanaka was really good again and I thought he got better as the night went on," Yankees manager Joe Girardi said of his starter. "To be able to give us what he gave us today was great." Yangervis Solarte and Mark Teixeira hit solo homers for the Yankees, while Brian Roberts and Derek Jeter each had an RBI. Jeter, who plans to retire at season's end, will play his final regular-season game of the Subway Series. He is 4-for-11 with three walks, one RBI and one run scored over the first three games of this set and a lifetime .368 hitter versus the Mets with 13 homers and 44 RBI.