All Aboard

Subway Series Part Deux

Things have changed quite a bit since the Mets spanked the Yankees 2 of 3 back in May. The Bronx Bombers have won 9 straight, while their crosstown rivals have dropped 9 of 10. The Yankees were in the midst of a pathetic slide that would lead to them being 14.5 games behind Boston in mid May. Meanwhile the Mets were kicking the NL's ass.

After salvaging the final game of the series, the Yankees left Shea 19-23. The 1st place Mets were flying high at 28-15. Oh how the worm has turned since then. First the Yankees would drop 8 of 13 before this current streak got them two 2 games above .500 for the first time since A-Rod's walk 0ff against Cleveland on April 19. They then lost 7 straight.

The Mets went 5-2 after meeting the Yanks at Shea, and were sitting atop the NL East at 33-17. Then injury and poor performance caught up with them. They've gone 3-11 since May 29, and are now 36-28. Just 3 games better than the Yankees.

Pitching Probables for the weekend

Friday - Oliver Perez vs. Roger Clemens. How odd will this look with no Mike Piazza?

Saturday - Tom Glavine vs. Tyler Clippard. 296 career wins vs. 3. If Clippard doesn't perform well he could be headed back to Scranton.

Sunday - El Duque vs. Chien-Ming Wang. It's hard to watch El Duque pitching for another team, let alone the Mets. And against the Yankees to boot. But my boy The Wanger is the pride and joy of Taiwan (Great article in today's Star-Ledger on Wang's hero status back home.).

Injuries

The last time these two teams met, Darrell Rasner was lost in the 1st inning with a busted finger. Since then the Yankees have lost Jason Giambi and Doug Mientkiewicz (joining Carl Pavano, Jeff Karstens, Phil Hughes for lengthy periods with serious injuries.

A week before the 1st installment of the subway series, the Mets lost Moises Alou to a strained quad. He's still not back. Arguably, an even bigger blow was the loss of spark plug Endy Chavez to a strained Hamstring. Chavez is the type of player that ignites a team with his hustle and defensive presence. Shawn Green also missed extensive time with a broken foot.

Hot Streak and Slumps

The Yankees, as a whole, stunk in April, with only A-Rod hitting. Derek Jeter and Jorge Posada had the only active bats in May. But things have changed drastically in June. A-Rod has gotten his stroke back, tearing up pitchers at an alarming rate.

Hideki Matsui has the best batting average of any player (min. 200 at-bats) in interleague playing, and he just destroyed the Dbacks. And Bobby Abreu who couldn't hit little league pitching for the first two months of the season, has a 14 game hitting streak (.440 average) and is wearing out pitchers again with his patient approach.

Carlos Delgado has been having an awful season for the Mets. It was covered up by the fact that the team was winning. While his 10 HR and 39 RBI are decent, his .224 batting average is far from it. This is a guy who is a .280 career hitter. Delgado appeared to wake up in June, hitting .273-6-20, but his troubles have returned in June.

Carlos Beltran may hear boo birds again soon. He's hit just .211 since April 30, with only 3 HRs.

The Yankees need to now take 2 of 3 as the Mets did back in May.