Summarize this content to 2000 words in 6 paragraphs in Arabic
This is getting McCrazy.
Jeff McNeil hit only five homers before the All-Star break, but since returning has morphed into a slugging sensation.
On Tuesday he blasted his fourth homer in five games since the break, giving the Mets a lead they never relinquished in a 3-2 victory over the Yankees in The Bronx.
McNeil’s two-run blast against former teammate Michael Tonkin in the sixth snapped a 1-1 tie.
“Happy Jeff” — a nickname bestowed upon McNeil by Francisco Lindor a day earlier in Miami — was beaming as he rounded the bases.
“Another good day, and any day you go home from the ballpark happy is a good one,” McNeil said.
After Pete Alonso doubled leading off the sixth and advanced to third with one out, McNeil came to the plate and persisted against Tonkin after falling behind 1-2 in the count.
McNeil worked the count full before slamming a 93 mph fastball over the fence in right-center. It was an at-bat in which McNeil fouled off four pitches.
“An at-bat like that, I’m trying not to do too much, the infield is drawn in and I am trying to get something I can elevate,” McNeil said. “Sometimes pitchers make good pitches and you don’t get the right pitch to do it, so you have got to battle.”
An inning earlier McNeil caused a traffic jam on the bases that was almost disastrous.
With McNeil at second base and Luis Torrens at first following consecutive singles to open the fifth, Tyrone Taylor hit a shot to left that Alex Verdugo played off the fence.
McNeil had retreated to second base to tag up and Torrens needed to decelerate to avoid passing him. McNeil stopped at third, loading the bases.
“If [Verdugo] catches that ball and I am not on third base that is a problem,” McNeil said. “So you have got to be safe there. [Verdugo] put his glove up. I thought it was going in his glove. That is one of those baseball plays that just happened.”
McNeil ultimately scored to tie it 1-1 when Lindor was drilled by a pitch with one out.
But neither Brandon Nimmo nor J.D. Martinez could deliver to put the Mets ahead.
McNeil credits his decision before the All-Star break to start trying to hit the ball hard instead of hitting for location as the key to his turnaround.
McNeil had a dreadful .591 OPS in the first half.
“I feel like he’s back to what we all know he is capable of,” manager Carlos Mendoza said. “But now he is driving the ball, impacting the baseball. He’s got conviction behind his swing. He’s getting good pitches and putting good swings on it.”
