Sending Out An SOS: Yankees Need the Cavalry

Teams lose to other teams. Some of those other teams might not be as good as the losing team. It happens - well Suzyn, you can't predict baseball, etc.  The Yankees lost four straight to the Mets after Thursday night's 3-1 debacle (at least the game was quick) and have dropped five straight overall as they head into a much more important series with the Boston Red Sox this weekend.

Vidal Nuno pitched beautifully for six innings, but allowed a 2-run home run to Marlon Byrd in the early going. That's about one or two runs more than the Yankees can handle these days. The bats are coming back to Earth, which means the Friday arrival of Mark Teixeira and Kevin Youkilis is coming just in the nick of time.

The Mets starter for Thursday night was Dillon Gee. The 27-year old Texan had made 10 starts this season prior to the finale with the Yankees. In those 10 games, Gee allowed less than three earned runs just three times and recorded an out in the 7th inning just once. So tonight Gee and his 6.34 ERA threw 7.1 innings and struck out 12 Yankees. His season high had been six strikeouts, which he accomplished twice. The only blemish on his stat line was a solo home run served up to Robinson Cano.

The Yankees hitting a brick wall was not unexpected; it's about the only thing they can hit right now. There were signs of this earlier in the season, but the lineup bounced back. Not so in the series with their crosstown rivals. So Brian Cashman has some decisions to finalize tonight. With two everyday players returning, room needs to be made on the 25-man roster, and for Teixeira, on the 40-man roster as well.

As I mentioned in an earlier post, Cashman was quite frank when he spoke Tuesday to ESPN radio's Don LaGreca concerning the future of first baseman Lyle Overbay. Though the 36-year old has done a marvelous job (The YES Network showed a graphic prior to tonight's game that showed Overbay's numbers after 50 games were very similar to Teixeira's first 50 games in 2012.), his position limitation does not make him an ideal candidate for the everyday roster. Things are even more complicated when you consider Travis Hafner cannot play a position at all.

Letting Overbay go with no return would be a terrible mistake (he certainly would not pass through waivers without being claimed), but he's the logical choice to be removed from the roster.

The second player is likely to be David Adams who has been seeing most of the playing time at third base since he was recalled from Triple-A on May 15. Despite the organization's love of his bat, Adams should be sent back to Scranton to play every day.  Another less likely option would be to get rid of recently acquired Reid Brignac, but the Yankees don't have another infielder besides Jayson Nix that can handle shortstop.

The Yankees also announced that Andy Pettitte would be returning to start Monday's game against Cleveland. Thursday's starter Vidal Nuno would be the logical choice to go back to Scranton.

Don't Let the Wright Guy Beat You

"Look..up in the sky...it's a bird..it's a plane..it's a Phil Hughes fastball."

If you scratched your head every time you were baffled by Phil Hughes, you would have a number of scabs on your scalp and your fingernails would be worn down to the nub. Such is life when you are watching Dr. Jekyl and Mr. Hughes take his regular turn in the rotation.

Monday's night game with the Mets at Citi Field was a prime example of both sides of Hughes show up in a ball game. Hughes was throwing a beautiful game, but the Yankees had scored just a single run due to failed opportunities against Mets starter Jon  Niese. David Wright then strode to the plate in the bottom of the 7th with no one on base. Moments later expletives were heard through living rooms, dens, bars, and in areas of Citi Field that Yankees  fans were seated.

Wright is the only great hitter the Mets have. There is absolutely no reason to face him in a big spot in the game. A big spot such as protecting a one run lead in the 7th inning. Feel free to challenge Wright in the early innings, but with Lucas Duda on deck or whichever possible pinch-hitter is sitting on the bench, you do not give Wright anything to hit.

Of course, it was not Hughes' intention - the target was away - to give up a game tying gopher ball, but that's just what he did.  Wright got a pitch in his wheelhouse and tied the game. As the NY Post's Joel Sherman pointed out, Hughes actually gave up back-to-back home runs, but Brett Gardner robbed Daniel Murphy of a home run to end the 6th inning.

The Yankees ended up with a 2-1 loss when an ineffective David Robertson gave up a two-out RBI single to Murphy an inning later. But they would not have been in that position had Hughes not served up his regular, every fifth day meatball. Hughes has allowed at least one home run in seven of his 10 starts this season and last year, when he served up 35 long balls, opponents homered in 25 of Hughes' 32 starts.

So while Hughes can come through with a number of good starts, more often that not that "one mistake" or "two mistakes" end up costing him and the team. Hughes has even more trouble in his own ballpark, which is not suited for a flyball/strikeout pitcher (in fact Hughes has one of the lowest ground ball outs per game in MLB).

Yankees GM Brian Cashman was on ESPN radio Monday afternoon and told hosts Don LaGreca and Ryan Ruocco that he is still very high on Hughes and still believes he can be a very successful pitcher. Something tells me that between now and when Hughes declares his free agency after this season, Cashman's opinion will change.

Which Came First? The Pollo or The Juevos? Doesn't Matter, Home Runs Came Last

Frank Francisco made called the Yankees chickens prior to the weekend series between the Mets and Yankees. Of course, no one knew what the hell he was talking about, so they weren't insulted. Perhaps Francisco though he was Pedro Cerrano from Major League who wanted to sacrifice a chicken before the big game.

Francisco created a stir mainly among the Mets and the fans, and the NY Post came up with one of their ridiculous cover pages. It turned out Francisco was referring to the Yankees allegedly constantly complaining about ball and strike calls.

Of course there are certain people who should just keep his mouth shut. Especially idiots who once threw a chair in the crowd and injured two fans.

Yes, Francisco saved Friday night's 6-4 Mets win over the Yankees, but karma is a bitch, and apparently Francisco hurt his oblique. Perhaps it was from his jolly laughter about the whole chicken incident and his subsequent back track of his words.

Saturday night it looked like Francisco, before we knew he probably unavailable, might be called on again. But those things they call home runs, which Mets fans thought the Yankees couldn't hit in their spacious ball park, changed all that. Ivan Nova left in the 6th inning, trailing 3-0. He had allowed a home run to Kirk Nieuwenhuis and an Alex Rodriguez error led to an unearned run.

The Yankees were barely touching 6'10" Mets' starter Chris Young, who at times looked like he was dunking the baseball in the catcher Josh Thole's mitt. But after putting two aboard in the 7th inning, Young saw his lead slip away when Raul Ibanez hit a frozen rope over the wall in right to tie the game.

Two batters later pinch-hitter Eric Chavez did his Niewenhuis imitation by hitting an opposite field home run to left to give the Yankees their first lead of the night. Then it was up to the bullpen.

Boone Logan K'ed two to end the 8th; David Robertson did his Houdini act in the 8th when he walked two, but struck out the side, and Rafael Soriano finished it off in the 9th with two more K's and a Mets' stranded runner.

So the Yankees home runs stole one and the series is tied one apiece with a great rubber game Sunday night between CC Sabathia and R.A. Dickey. We'll see who laughs last.

Yankees and Mets Round 2

As soon as the deluge stops at Citi Field, the Yankees and Mets will start a three game weekend series, with nationally televised games on Saturday (FOX) and Sunday (ESPN).

In honor of the second half of the series (the Yankees swept three games at Yankee Stadium), here's the top 5 memorable Yankees-Mets encounters that I wrote for Yahoo.

Roger Clemens, Mike Piazza, Derek Jeter, yup they're all in there.

Colon, Nunez Dominate Mets

A little after 4 p.m. on Saturday Bartolo Colon picked up right where he left off when he injured his hamstring on June 11. Colon improved to 6-3 with six shutout innings in the Yankees 5-2 win over the Mets. It was the Yankees seventh straight victory and clinched their seventh straight series victory. Colon scattered five hits, didn't walk a batter and struck out six.

Eduardo Nunez continued his red hot hitting with three hits (seven in the last two innings), including his first Major League home run. Mets starter Dillon Gee was solid through five innings, but ran into the Yankees hot bats in the 6th.

Gee retired Brett Gardner to start the 6th, but Curtis Granderson homered for the first time since June 14 (#22) to break the scoreless tie. Mark Teixeira and Alex Rodriguez followed with singles and Robinson Cano brought them home with a two-run triple into the right field corner. Nick Swisher's sac fly made it a 4-0 game.

The Mets offense got humstrung both figuratively and literally when Jose Reyes had to leave the game with a tweaked hamstring. The injury occurred in the first inning as Reyes raced to first base with a single. The Mets posed no threat to Colon until the 5th inning when they loaded the bases with one out on singles by Jason Bay, Lucas Duda, and Josh Thole. But pitcher Dillon Gee bounced a ball to Alex Rodriguez, who stepped on third and threw across the diamond for an easy inning ending double play.

Nunez's first blast came off of Tim Byrdak in the 9th and he was greeted in the dugout by the silent treatment. He laughed about it afterwards with Fox's Ken Rosenthal.

The Mets finally broke through in the 9th with a pair of runs off of Sergio Mitre in the 9th.

Yankees Bloop and Single Mets To Victory

After a Saturday win over their crosstown rivals that was spurred on by four home runs, the Yankees dinked, blooped, and bounced their past the Mets Sunday afternoon with an eight run 7th inning.

Ivan Nova battled his way through six plus innings, but trailed 3-1 to Mike Pelfrey. That's when the Yankees sluggish offense awoke and not in it's usual manner. Brett Gardner started things off with a single through the box that an angry Pelfrey felt he should have fielded. Pelfrey proceeded to load the bases by walking Chris Dickerson and plunking Francisco Cervelli, who had squared to bunt, in the left shoulder. With Al Leiter in the YES booth, Derek Jeter bounced one back through the middle that, although it didn't take as many hops, reminded everyone of Luis Sojo's 2000 World Series Game 5 winner off the Mets' lefty. The single scored two to tie the game and sent Pelfrey to the showers.

Left-hander Tim Byrdak came on and to everyone's surprise and no one's surprise, team home run leader Curtis Granderson (he hit his 16th home run earlier in the game) laid down a perfect sacrifice bunt to move the runners into scoring position. The Mets opted to intentionally walk Mark Teixeira to load the bases for Alex Rodriguez. Needing one more bases loaded home run to tie Lou Gehrig for the most career grand slams, Rodriguez simply singled off Pedro Beato to plate the go ahead run.

Robinson Cano followed with an RBI single of his own for 5-3 Yankees advantage before Jorge Posada was called out looking on a controversial strike three pitch for the second out...but the Yankees were not through. Gardner got his second hit of the inning, a double off of new pitcher Pat Misch to put the Yankees up 7-3 and the left-handed hitting Dickerson went the other way for a single to drive home the final two runs of the inning.

Luis Ayala picked up his first win as a Yankee after retiring the final batter in the 7th inning. He also pitched a 1-2-3 8th inning before turning things over to Lance Pendleton, who was recalled earlier in the day (Amaury Sanit was sent down).

Tex Slam Gives Yankees Subway Series II

Mark Teixeira has heard the grousing from the fans. He's been repeatedly asked what's wrong and when will he turn things around? Joe Girardi has stuck by his 1st baseman through his season long slump and it paid off dividends over the weekends with the Mets.

Teixeira's grand slam provided all the runs on the day as CC Sabathia and Mariano Rivera blanked the Mets 4-0.

The Subway Series has lost a lot of it's sting and six games is three too many. That being said, the weekend games were very intense as a good amount of Mets fans filtered into Yankee Stadium.

Johann Santana matched zero with Sabathia for the first two innings, but ran into trouble in the 3rd. Brett Gardner and Derek Jeter started the inning off with back to back singles. That brought up Nick Swisher, who was below the Mendoza line against Santana in his career.

No one was more aware of that than Swisher himself. Hitting right-handed, Swisher pushed a bunt down the first base line. It so confused the Mets that Santana and second baseman Ruben Tejada collided as they converged on first base and Ike Davis' flip.

With the bags juiced, Santana threw three straight change ups, but left the last one over the heart of the plate and Teixeira jumped all over it. It was the seventh grand slam of the season for the Yankees, tops in the majors.

Sabathia breezed through the first five innings before Tejada gave the Mets their best shot with a leadoff double in the 6th. But Sabathia retired Jose Reyes, Angel Pagan, and David Wright to strand Tejada right where he started.

The Mets had their last shot against Sabathia an inning later when Davis singled and Jason Bay walked. But once again Sabathia bared down. He struck out Rod Barajas looking and then induced an inning ending double play from Fernando Tatis.

Sabathia's 100th pitch was his last as he completed the eighth having allowed just four hits. Rivera's 1-2-3 9th inning earned him his 16th save of the season and a split of the six games with the Mets.

photo courtesy of Yahoo Sports

Yankees Power Their Way To Subway Win

Perhaps it was the ineffective Phillies offense rubbing off on them or more likely an ill-time slump. Whatever the case the Yankees somewhat snapped out of their offensive doldrums today and powered their was past the crosstown Mets 5-3.

Jose Reyes hit a pair of home runs off of Phil Hughes to give the Mets a 3-1 lead, but Mark Teixeira went deep with a man aboard against Mike Pelfrey in the 3rd to tie it. One inning later Curtis Granderson replicated the feat to give the Yankees a 5-3 lead.

That was all that Hughes and the pen would need. The right hander joined Ubaldo Jimenez and David Price as the only major leaguers with double figure victories. Hughes allowed just three hits over his final four innings and retired the side in order in his final inning, the seventh.

After losing three straight, an audible grown could be heard when Reyes homered on the second pitch of the ball game to put the Mets on top 1-0. The Yankees tied it up in the bottom half of the inning when Brett Gardner, hitting lead off with Derek Jeter sitting with a bad heel, and Nick Swisher stroked back to back singles and Teixeira bounced in a double play.

Hughes walked the nine hitter, Henry Blanco, with one out in the 3rd and it came back to bite him when Reyes took him deep for the second time. Hughes followed the home run with a walk to Angel Pagan, but Jorge Posada shut down a bigger inning by throwing Pagan attempting to steal second base.

Gardner set the table again in the 3rd with an infield single and moved into scoring position on Swisher's ground out. Teixeira took out his 1st inning frustration on a hanging Pelfrey change up and sent it into the right-center field seats for his 11th home run of the season.

Posada worked a walk to start the 4th and Granderson followed with a long home run to right when Pelfrey left a curve ball in the center fielder's wheelhouse.

Joba Chamberlain bounced back from a rough outing against the Phillies and tossed a scoreless 8th inning. He did give up a 2-out double to Pagan, but struck out David Wright by throwing a steady diet of sliders.

Mariano Rivera tossed a 1-2-3 9th inning to pick up his 16th save, and first since June 11.

Notes

Derek Jeter is expected to be back in the lineup for Sunday's game after bruising his heel on first base Friday night. Alex Rodriguez DH'ed so Ramiro Pena started at shortstop with Kevin Russo taking a turn at third base.

photo courtesy of NY Daily News

Stop the Slide - I Want To Get Off

"As Unclutch As Unclutch Gets" - Drew Sarver (Me), Twitter 5/22/10


Last night's Mets 5-3 win over the Yankees was a microcosm of the Yankees month of May. Poor pitching, no clutch hitting, and shoddy defense. After a tremendous month of April, the Yankees have hit the skids in May.

Things specifically started to go downhill after pounding the Red Sox up in Boston on May 8. The Yankees were 21-8 after the win. They're 5-9 since and just 11-10 overall in the second month of the season.

One of the things that everyone marveled at early on was the Yankees depth. But with a number of injuries, the Yankees depth has been exposed. Good players, but not good enough to be playing on a regular basis. With Nick Johnson, Curtis Granderson, and Jorge Posada hurting, players like Randy Winn and Marcus Thames aren't getting it done offensively and/or defensively.

To make matters worse, the players the Yankees rely on most - Jeter, Teixeira, A-Rod, aren't carrying their share of the load. Let's take a quick look, shall we, starting with the Captain. Rookie Kevin Russo had the best at-bats the last two nights, delivering a 2-run double on Friday and a bases loaded walk on Saturday.

Derek Jeter, just like the team he leads, got off to a tremendous start in April. An .875 OPS, 4 HR, and 18 RBI in 21 games. 31 hits, including nine for extra bases. Then May came around - a pathetic .522 OPS and 19 strikeouts. It hasn't helped that Brett Gardner, the team's secondary table setter, has just seven hits in his last 34 at-bats.

Mark Teixeira always starts badly in April, so it was no surprise when that happened again. When the calendar turned to May, Tex got going. That included a 3-HR, 5 RBI barrage on that Saturday in Boston when the Yankees reached their high watermark (to borrow a phrase from Michael Kay).

Tex is in a 1-20 skid (and 2-24) and has just one RBI in his last six games. He's also struck out seven times in those 20 at-bats, including three in last night's loss.

Tex would be helped if Alex Rodriguez starts devouring pitchers, but the Yankees third baseman really hasn't gotten into a consistent groove all season. Whether or not a painful knee is part of the problem remains to be seen, but his .877 OPS is nearly 100 points below his career average.

Though hitting .351 in May, just eight of A-Rod's 27 hits have been for extra bases. Pitchers will be more than happy to serve up singles to the player who is 7th on the all-time home run list.

Those three players and the rest of the lineup have failed time and again with runners in scoring position. They barely held on for a 2-1 win in Friday's Subway Series opener after squandering numerous opportunities. Saturday it cost them dearly as Phil Hughes was human and the Yankees bullpen stumbled yet again. The latter has been an issue that actually goes back to last season.

The pen is once again trying to find themselves. There's no question that the bullpen was vital to the Yankees winning their 27th championship. But the biggest part of that success was moving Phil Hughes into the 8th inning set up role and the emergence of David Robertson. Now, basically, the same cast is struggling during the regular season again.

We'll take Mariano Rivera out of the equation immediately. Every season sees some bumps in the road and Mo is in one of those ruts right now. If the reason for this particular instance is because of his mysterious side strain, then this could go on longer than usual. But for now, he gets a pass.

Joba Chamberlain finally told Kim Jones, who was doing a WFAN radio show on Saturday, that he prefers to work out of the bullpen. Perhaps he's realized that's where he's had his most success (somewhere Mike Francesa is doing cartwheels...let's not go there). Joba has stumbled some here and there, including poor back to back performance against the Twins and Red Sox this past week, but overall has been decent. You have to figure he'll get better as he gets more re-accustomed to his role. It would also help if he didn't shake off his catchers so much.

The remainder of the pen though is up for grabs. Robertson has gone back to being the unsure, under confident hit machine. Chan Ho Park was a horrendous signing- I said it immediately and will stand by it. Damaso Marte is as bad as he was in 2009. Boone Logan has been terrible and taking up a roster spot that should go to someone else. Al Aceves went and got himself hurt. Okay, that last one was said tongue in cheek. Aceves' injury has not only hurt him, but has really wrecked the pen as well. And to his credit, Sergio Mitre has stepped up.

Overall though, the pen has been incredibly shaky. They've allowed leads to get away and deficits to increase. Simply, they have not done their jobs.

Okay, not all is bleak. The Yankees are nine games above .500 because of the cushion they built. And players will be back, the soonest of which could be Curtis Granderson this coming week. That means much less playing time for the anemic bat of Randy Winn (and poor judge of fly balls last night) and the the scary glove of Marcus Thames.

Javier Vazquez has given the Yankees two straight solid or better starts. Maybe most importantly, the schedule will lighten up soon and the Yankees won't have to face the best of the American League. Hopefully they can hold out their best play for those meetings in October.

Javy Drives the Train

photo courtesy of Yahoo Sports

The Yankees took the first game of the current version of the interleague Subway Series with a pair of unexpected contributions. The Yankees topped the Mets 2-1 at Citi Field behind six top notch innings from Javier Vazquez and a 2-run double from rookie Kevin Russo.

Vazquez was beyond good (some would say Jella Good), allowing just one hit, a 5th inning single by Angel Pagan before exiting with an injury. Yes, yet another Yankees injury. This one doesn't seem to be too bad though according to Vazquez himself. Just before laying down his second successful sac bunt of the night, the Yankees hurler took a pitch off his finger as he bunted foul. Bleeding and swelling ensued and Vazquez's night was done.

Vazquez wasn't the only one having trouble with the bat though. The Yankees couldn't solve Mets starter Hisanori Takahashi all night. The left-hander scattered five hits and a walk over six innings and struck out five. He struck out Derek Jeter and got Brett Gardner to ground to strand two runners in scoring position in the third inning.

The Yankees put two more in scoring position in the 4th, but Takahashi struck out Nick Swisher and retired Francisco Cervelli on a fly out. The Yankees finally got on the board in the 7th with the help of the Mets bullpen and their defense.

Swisher led off the frame with a single off Elmer Dessens and Cervelli followed with a potential double play grounder to Alex Cora at second base. Playing in place of Luis Castillo, who had the disastrous drop in last year's Subway Series, Cora cleanly fielded Cervelli's bouncer, but threw the ball well out of the reach of shortstop Jose Reyes. Both runners moved into scoring position and Russo, who had picked up his first major league hit earlier in the game, brought them home with a double into the right field corner.

Joba Chamberlain retired all five men he faced, three by strike out, to set up the bridge to Mariano Rivera. The Yankees closer was on the verge of an easy 1-2-3 inning, but Jason Bay doubled on a 2-strike, 2-out to keep the Mets alive and Ike Davis followed with a double of his own to get the Mets on the scoreboard. But Rivera bounced back, retiring David Wright on a first pitch ground out to preseve the win and end the Yankees three game losing streak.

Mo Saves 500th

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9		R	H	E
NY Yankees	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1		4	4	0
NY Mets	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	0		2	5	0

Mariano Rivera earned his 500th career save tonight in the Yankees 4-2 win over the New York Mets. Making it even more memorable was the first career RBI of Rivera's illustrious career.

Francisco Rodriguez walked Rivera with the bases loaded and 2 outs in the top of the 9th for a big insurance run. Rivera came on in the 8th inning to strike out Omir Santos with two men aboard and then picked up his milestone stay by retiring Alex Cora on a game ending ground out to Robinson Cano.

The save also preserved Chien-Ming Wang's first victory of the season. Rivera becomes just the second player in major league history, along with Trevor Hoffman, to earn 500 saves.

Box Score

Yankees Wallop Sloppy Mets

The big man does it with the bat too!

Filed Under: Yankees

Tags: A-Rod passes Reggie • Alex Rodriguez • brett gardner • cc sabathia • David Wright • Derek Jeter • Happy Birthday Derek Jeter • Interleague Play • Mike Pelfrey • NY Mets • Subway Series • Yankees 6/26 recap • Yankees vs. Mets

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9		R	H	E
NY Yankees	0	4	0	0	0	0	0	3	2		9	14	0
NY Mets	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0		1	3	3

WP - Sabathia (7-4) LP - Pelfrey (5-3)

The Yankees picked up where they left off in the Subway Series, drubbing the Mets 9-1 tonight at Citi Field. The last time the two teams met on June 14, the Yankees pounded Johan Santana in 15-0 white washing at Yankee Stadium. That was the same series that Luis Castillo committed the “E-4 heard ’round the world“. Tonight’s game was a combo of both of those Yankees victories- great pitching, great hitting, and sloppy Mets play. They didn’t even need the birthday boy, the now 35-yr old Derek Jeter, who sat out the game with a bad cough.

CC Sabathia was outstanding in winning his 7th game of the season. The big man showed no signs of the bicep tightness that knocked him from his start last Sunday in the 2nd inning. He retired the first 12 Mets he faced and retired the side in order in 6 of the 7 innings he worked. His lone “bad” inning was the 5th when he allowed a home run to Gary Sheffield and worked his way out of further trouble to preserve a 4-1 lead. Sabathia’s fastball topped out at 98 mph and was consistently in the mid-90s....

Read the rest of my recap at Baseball Digest Online.

Mets Even Things Up

Omir, O my

June 13th, 2009 • Related • Filed Under

Filed Under: Yankees

Tags: Alex Rodriguez • andy pettitte • Derek Jeter • Fernando Nieve • Francisco Rodriguez • Gary Sheffield • omir santos • Subway Series • Yankees 6/13 recap • Yankees vs. Mets

After Friday’s night crushing loss, it would have been only natural for the Mets to come out flat for today’s game with the Yankees. But instead it was the home team that looked flat. Former Yankees’ farm hand Omir Santos and former Yankees’ major leaguer Gary Sheffield both played big roles in the Mets 6-2 win over the Yankees this afternoon.

Less than 24 hours after Mets second baseman Luis Castillo dropped the ball heard round the Bronx, the Mets got an unexpected starting performance from Fernando Nieve and jumped all over Yankees starter Andy Pettitte.

Nieve had made only 52 big league appearances since debuting with the Houston Astros back in 2006. But with John Maine on the DL, the Mets needed someone to step up and Nieve did just that.

The 26-yr old limited the Yankees to 4 hits over 6.2 innings for his 4th big league win. His battery mate, Santos, gave his teammate a quick lead to work with when he went deep with a man aboard in the 2nd.

The 28-yr old catcher had been a career minor leaguer (He appeared in 10 games for the Baltimore Orioles last season), before he took advantage of injuries to the Mets catching corp this spring. He nearly added a second home run, but settled for an RBI double that capped the Mets’ 3-run 5th inning.

Pettitte was done after five innings and continued his struggles of late. Though he’s 3-2 in his last six starts, Pettitte has allowed 20 earned runs in his last 34.2 innings (5.19 ERA), and hasn’t pitched past the 5th inning in three of them.

Sheffield, who many thought were done when he was released by the Detroit Tigers this spring, continued his recent resurgence. He homered off Brett Tomko Friday night and went yard on Al Aceves this afternoon. He also contributed an RBI single off of Pettitte, despite a balky knee that has him set for an MRI shortly.

The Yankees couldn’t muster much of anything against Nieve. Alex Rodriguez hit a solo shot to left that cut the Mets lead to 2-1 in the 2nd, but were held scoreless other than a Derek Jeter RBI single in the 7th.

Even though it was a non-save situation, Mets manager Jerry Manuel wasn’t taking any chances and sent for Francisco Rodriguez to pitch the 9th. He retired the side without incident and the Mets had themselves a split of the first two games of the Subway Series.

Game Notes

A-Rod’s home run was his 562nd, putting him one behind Reggie Jackson for 11th place on the all-time list. He was also hit again, this time on the left elbow by a Nieve pitch, and is clearly getting tired of it.

Nieve’s victory was his first since June 25, 2006 when the Astros beat the White Sox in interleague play.

And Then the Sun Shone Brightly

Beautiful day in the neighborhood after last night's monsoon. The Yankees fucked over their fans again by not calling the game until around 7 p.m.. That's NOT how you treat your customers. The game will be made up sometime in June, possibly as part of a day-night, two stadium doubleheader when the teams have a series at Shea.

Darrell Rasner's turn will be skipped so it will be Andy Pettitte facing fellow lefty Johan Santana this afternoon. Sunday night will now have Oliver Perez against Chien-Ming Wang, which is unfortunate because a John Maine vs. Wang match up would be a lot more exciting. Throw in the fact that the Yankees aren't getting any production against left-handers and you would rather face Maine even though he's a lot better pitcher than Perez.

Jorge Posada, Bobby Abreu, and Mets catcher Brian Schneider were at Mickey Mantle's restaurant yesterday to promote their charity driven wine labels. Posada is making good progress, but will not rush himself back even though the Yankees are hurting as much as he was.

"I'm going to be smart about it. ... I want to be back and I want to be healthy for the long run," said Posada..."

"I'm getting there," he added. "I'm really eager to get back. I feel good. I'm progressing. Every day is a different thing and so far it's been good."

Posada also had no problem with Boss Jr.'s recent outburst.

"He's saying the truth," Posada said. "He wants to win. There's nothing wrong of your owner wanting to win. So it's a matter of us really coming through and performing the way we need to."

Abreu agreed.

"We just have to go out there and do it," said Abreu. "You always have pressure. You just have to go out, do your job and help the team win."

Though the fans still get pumped up for the series, the impact isn't quite the same, especially for the Yankees that have been around a while. Andy Pettitte is one such player.

"Am I excited about it anymore? Not really, no," Pettitte said. "It's exciting for the fans, you get great crowds and the fans are into it. But as far as for me, it's not that exciting anymore."

Pettitte's more concerned about his poor pitching of late.

"Obviously I'm not happy at all with the way I pitched in my last start," said Pettitte, who left that game trailing 5-0. "And I'm definitely not happy working only four innings. Really, for me, that's unacceptable."

Here's to turning things around starting today.

Pettitte and Derek Jeter were among the players who praised Willie Randolph and hoped he survives the recent firing rumors.

"Obviously, I know him well and I wish him nothing but the best, so you never want to hear somebody might lose their job," Pettitte said yesterday before the Subway Series opener was rained out. "I hope that nothing like that would happen to him or his family."

"It's always tough on the manager. He doesn't pitch. He doesn't hit," Posada said. "The same lineup is going to be put out there by the next manager and every five days it's the same starting pitcher. It's tough to do the job. People take him for granted."

Jeter who has been buds with Randolph for a long time was even more emphatic in his backing of Willie.

"I don't see how people make such a big deal out of teams 40 games into a season. That always baffles me," Jeter said. "It's always baffled me how people write how a team's underachieving and this and that and you have 120 games left in a season. I guess that's my reaction to it. Not just 'cause it's Willie. It's 'cause it's anybody."

Said Jeter, "Willie was fun to be around. He likes to work. He's easy to talk to. He's played here in New York. He's managed in New York. He's coached in New York. He's been in the front office in New York. So he's pretty much been doing everything, so in terms of experience, you really can't get any more experience, especially in New York City, than Willie."

Unfortunately, Randolph has gotten the ill-fated "Vote of Confidence" from GM Omar Minaya.

And Then the Sun Shone Brightly

Beautiful day in the neighborhood after last night's monsoon. The Yankees fucked over their fans again by not calling the game until around 7 p.m.. That's NOT how you treat your customers. The game will be made up sometime in June, possibly as part of a day-night, two stadium doubleheader when the teams have a series at Shea.

Darrell Rasner's turn will be skipped so it will be Andy Pettitte facing fellow lefty Johan Santana this afternoon. Sunday night will now have Oliver Perez against Chien-Ming Wang, which is unfortunate because a John Maine vs. Wang match up would be a lot more exciting. Throw in the fact that the Yankees aren't getting any production against left-handers and you would rather face Maine even though he's a lot better pitcher than Perez.

Jorge Posada, Bobby Abreu, and Mets catcher Brian Schneider were at Mickey Mantle's restaurant yesterday to promote their charity driven wine labels. Posada is making good progress, but will not rush himself back even though the Yankees are hurting as much as he was.

"I'm going to be smart about it. ... I want to be back and I want to be healthy for the long run," said Posada..."

"I'm getting there," he added. "I'm really eager to get back. I feel good. I'm progressing. Every day is a different thing and so far it's been good."

Posada also had no problem with Boss Jr.'s recent outburst.

"He's saying the truth," Posada said. "He wants to win. There's nothing wrong of your owner wanting to win. So it's a matter of us really coming through and performing the way we need to."

Abreu agreed.

"We just have to go out there and do it," said Abreu. "You always have pressure. You just have to go out, do your job and help the team win."

Though the fans still get pumped up for the series, the impact isn't quite the same, especially for the Yankees that have been around a while. Andy Pettitte is one such player.

"Am I excited about it anymore? Not really, no," Pettitte said. "It's exciting for the fans, you get great crowds and the fans are into it. But as far as for me, it's not that exciting anymore."

Pettitte's more concerned about his poor pitching of late.

"Obviously I'm not happy at all with the way I pitched in my last start," said Pettitte, who left that game trailing 5-0. "And I'm definitely not happy working only four innings. Really, for me, that's unacceptable."

Here's to turning things around starting today.

Pettitte and Derek Jeter were among the players who praised Willie Randolph and hoped he survives the recent firing rumors.

"Obviously, I know him well and I wish him nothing but the best, so you never want to hear somebody might lose their job," Pettitte said yesterday before the Subway Series opener was rained out. "I hope that nothing like that would happen to him or his family."

"It's always tough on the manager. He doesn't pitch. He doesn't hit," Posada said. "The same lineup is going to be put out there by the next manager and every five days it's the same starting pitcher. It's tough to do the job. People take him for granted."

Jeter who has been buds with Randolph for a long time was even more emphatic in his backing of Willie.

"I don't see how people make such a big deal out of teams 40 games into a season. That always baffles me," Jeter said. "It's always baffled me how people write how a team's underachieving and this and that and you have 120 games left in a season. I guess that's my reaction to it. Not just 'cause it's Willie. It's 'cause it's anybody."

Said Jeter, "Willie was fun to be around. He likes to work. He's easy to talk to. He's played here in New York. He's managed in New York. He's coached in New York. He's been in the front office in New York. So he's pretty much been doing everything, so in terms of experience, you really can't get any more experience, especially in New York City, than Willie."

Unfortunately, Randolph has gotten the ill-fated "Vote of Confidence" from GM Omar Minaya.

Flashback - Subway Series 1997

Major League baseball went to interleague play back in 1997 for the first non-exhibition meeting between the Yankees and Mets. There were only 3 games between the two teams in the interleague inaugural season (we'd love it to go back to that). Lets take a look back at that first series.

Dave Mlicki was the unlikely hero of the first game at Yankee Stadium, June 16, 1997. Mlicki had a journeyman career and was in his 3rd full season in the majors. He would win just 66 games, but none would be bigger than this one against the defending world series champions.

Mlicki scattered 9 hits en route to a complete game shutout as the Mets took the opener 6-0. The Mets jumped right on Yankees starter Andy Pettitte for 3 runs in the 1st inning. It included an unlikely steal of home by Randy Hundley, and RBI hits by John Olerud and Butch Huskey. Olerud drove in 3 runs all told. Joe Girardi had 3 hits for the Yankees.

Starting Lineups:

 New York Mets                 New York Yankees       
1. Johnson             cf        Jeter               ss
2. Gilkey              lf        Kelly               2b
3. Olerud              1b        O'Neill             rf
4. Hundley             c         Fielder             dh
5. Huskey              dh        Martinez            1b
6. Everett             rf        Hayes               3b
7. Baerga              2b        Whiten              lf
8. M. Franco           3b        Curtis              cf
9. Lopez               ss        Girardi             c
 Mlicki              p         Pettitte            p

Game 2 matched unbeated Armando Reynoso against David Wells. The Yankees knocked the 5-0 Reynoso out of the game in the 2nd inning with 4 runs. Joe Girardi's bases loaded single brought home the first run and Derek Jeter followed with a 2-run double. Luis Sojo's double off of Reynoso brought in the final run of the inning and caused the Mets starter to be removed.

The Mets got 3 back quickly against Boomer in the 4th, but he settled down and went 8 innings before giving way to Mariano Rivera, who picked up his 22nd save of the season in a 6-3 Yankees win.

Starting Lineups:

 New York Mets                 New York Yankees       
1. Johnson             cf        Jeter               ss
2. Gilkey              lf        Sojo                2b
3. Olerud              1b        O'Neill             rf
4. Hundley             c         Fielder             dh
5. Huskey              dh        Martinez            1b
6. Everett             rf        Hayes               3b
7. Baerga              2b        Whiten              lf
8. M. Franco           3b        Curtis              cf
9. Lopez               ss        Girardi             c
 Reynoso             p         Wells               p

Rick Reed and David Cone matched up in the Sunday finale. Coney was on his game, allowing just 2 hits while striking out 11 over 8 innings, but his teammates couldn't generate offense. The Yankees had taken a 2-0 lead on solo home runs by Cecil Fielder and Chad Curtis, but the Mets cut the lead in half on an RBI ground out by Olerud in the 7th and tied the game on Cone's balk in the 8th.

The game went to the 10th where Paul O'Neill walked and moved to 3rd on Cecil Fielder's single. Tino Martinez brought home the game winner with a single of his own as Mike Stanton improved to 3-0.

Starting Lineups:

 New York Mets                 New York Yankees       
1. Johnson             cf        Jeter               ss
2. Gilkey              lf        Sojo                2b
3. Olerud              1b        O'Neill             rf
4. Hundley             c         Fielder             dh
5. Baerga              2b        Martinez            1b
6. Huskey              dh        Boggs               3b
7. M. Franco           3b        Whiten              lf
8. Everett             rf        Curtis              cf
9. Lopez               ss        Girardi             c
 Reed                p         Cone                p

Flashback - Subway Series 1997

Major League baseball went to interleague play back in 1997 for the first non-exhibition meeting between the Yankees and Mets. There were only 3 games between the two teams in the interleague inaugural season (we'd love it to go back to that). Lets take a look back at that first series.

Dave Mlicki was the unlikely hero of the first game at Yankee Stadium, June 16, 1997. Mlicki had a journeyman career and was in his 3rd full season in the majors. He would win just 66 games, but none would be bigger than this one against the defending world series champions.

Mlicki scattered 9 hits en route to a complete game shutout as the Mets took the opener 6-0. The Mets jumped right on Yankees starter Andy Pettitte for 3 runs in the 1st inning. It included an unlikely steal of home by Randy Hundley, and RBI hits by John Olerud and Butch Huskey. Olerud drove in 3 runs all told. Joe Girardi had 3 hits for the Yankees.

Starting Lineups:

 New York Mets                 New York Yankees       
1. Johnson             cf        Jeter               ss
2. Gilkey              lf        Kelly               2b
3. Olerud              1b        O'Neill             rf
4. Hundley             c         Fielder             dh
5. Huskey              dh        Martinez            1b
6. Everett             rf        Hayes               3b
7. Baerga              2b        Whiten              lf
8. M. Franco           3b        Curtis              cf
9. Lopez               ss        Girardi             c
 Mlicki              p         Pettitte            p

Game 2 matched unbeated Armando Reynoso against David Wells. The Yankees knocked the 5-0 Reynoso out of the game in the 2nd inning with 4 runs. Joe Girardi's bases loaded single brought home the first run and Derek Jeter followed with a 2-run double. Luis Sojo's double off of Reynoso brought in the final run of the inning and caused the Mets starter to be removed.

The Mets got 3 back quickly against Boomer in the 4th, but he settled down and went 8 innings before giving way to Mariano Rivera, who picked up his 22nd save of the season in a 6-3 Yankees win.

Starting Lineups:

 New York Mets                 New York Yankees       
1. Johnson             cf        Jeter               ss
2. Gilkey              lf        Sojo                2b
3. Olerud              1b        O'Neill             rf
4. Hundley             c         Fielder             dh
5. Huskey              dh        Martinez            1b
6. Everett             rf        Hayes               3b
7. Baerga              2b        Whiten              lf
8. M. Franco           3b        Curtis              cf
9. Lopez               ss        Girardi             c
 Reynoso             p         Wells               p

Rick Reed and David Cone matched up in the Sunday finale. Coney was on his game, allowing just 2 hits while striking out 11 over 8 innings, but his teammates couldn't generate offense. The Yankees had taken a 2-0 lead on solo home runs by Cecil Fielder and Chad Curtis, but the Mets cut the lead in half on an RBI ground out by Olerud in the 7th and tied the game on Cone's balk in the 8th.

The game went to the 10th where Paul O'Neill walked and moved to 3rd on Cecil Fielder's single. Tino Martinez brought home the game winner with a single of his own as Mike Stanton improved to 3-0.

Starting Lineups:

 New York Mets                 New York Yankees       
1. Johnson             cf        Jeter               ss
2. Gilkey              lf        Sojo                2b
3. Olerud              1b        O'Neill             rf
4. Hundley             c         Fielder             dh
5. Baerga              2b        Martinez            1b
6. Huskey              dh        Boggs               3b
7. M. Franco           3b        Whiten              lf
8. Everett             rf        Curtis              cf
9. Lopez               ss        Girardi             c
 Reed                p         Cone                p

Yankees Taiwan On

Bad puns aside, the Yankees bounced back nicely from Friday night's defeat to win a slugfest on Saturday. Last night was an even more complete game. Pitching, offense, and defense each took their turn in the Yankees 8-2 drubbing of the Mets before a nationally televised audience. The win was the Yankees 11th in their last 12 games, while the Mets have now droppped 7 of 8.

Chien-Ming Wang got the start for the Yankees and was completely dominant. My boy (I'm proud to say I correctly predicted that Wang would have a major impact for the Yankees during spring training in 2005. It's nice to be right now and then.) mixed in his ever more reliable change up with a slider, a great fastball, and his bring-you-to-your-knees hard sinker to strike out a career high 10 batters. And of course he had his ground ball game going as well.

Once The Wanger has the lead he rarely gives it back and Alex Rodriguez gave it to him early last night. Having already allowed a single to Derek Jeter (extending his hitting streak to 12 games), El Duque left a two-out hanger over the plate for A-Rod, who destroys them like a dry cleaners. The blast, his 27th, landed in the back left corners of the visitors bullpen. It was career HR #490 for A-Rod, who has been hitting one tape measure shot after another these days.

The Yankees added two more off of Duque in the 2nd. Miguel Cairo's two-out double to left scored Hideki Matsui, and Cairo came home on Johnny Damon's single. In the 3rd, the Bombers made it 5-0. Bobby Abreu hit a shot into the left field corner that eluded Carlos Gomez for a lead off triple. A-Rod brought him home with a deep sacrifice fly for RBI #73.

Meanwhile, Wang was breezing through the Mets lineup. He didn't allow a hit until Jose Reyes' single in the 4th. But the Yankees quickly erased that one, correctly calling a pitch- Jorge Posada's throw arriving well ahead of a sliding Reyes.

A solo HR by Damon, an Abreu HBP, and a walk to A-Rod finally drove El Duque from the game. An appreciative Yankee Stadium crowd has never forgotten how Orlando Hernandez contributed to 3 World Series championships and gave the fan favorite a nice round of applause.

The Mets finally reached Wang in the 7th when his strike 3 pitch to David Wright bounced well in front of Posada. Instead of the side being retired, Wright reached safely and scored on Carlos Delgado's double to right. With the lead cut to 6-1, Wang retired Jose Valentin on a ground out to quickly snuff out any idea of a rally.

Wang looked even stronger in the 8th, striking out the side. That included a strike 2 swing and miss by Reyes, on a Wang change up, that nearly screwed him into the ground.

The Yankees made sure there would be no doubt about the outcome, when in the 8th A-Rod lined a double to left-center and Posada followed with a line drive home run off of Aaron Heilman into the right field seats. It was Posada's 9th of the season and his 207th as a Yankee.

Wang came within 1 out of a complete game in the 9th before Joe Torre decided that 113 pitches was enough. Ramon Castro doubled and Carlos Beltran singled him home for the Mets 2nd run of the night. But David Wright grounded sharply to A-Rod who started an around the horn double play. That's when Torre opted for Mike Myers. The lefty specialist struck out Delgado looking to end a very enjoyable Sunday night.

~~~

Defense is always an important part of the game, but especially when you have a ground ball pitcher like Wang going. After homering in the 2nd, A-Rod dove to his left on a sharply hit ball by Delgado and threw him out to take away a base hit. In the 6th the Yankees doubled up the lightning fast Reyes as Miguel Cairo turned a sweet 3-6-3 double play, scooping out Jeter's throw as he got back to the 1st Base bag.

Speaking of A-Rod's defense, its been completely overlooked because of the tremendous offensive season he is having. But in case you have noticed, he's been playing an outstanding 3rd Base.

Jeter has gone 19-45 (.422) during his 12 game hitting streak, raising his average from .326 to .342.

Wang is now 6-1 in his last 7 starts with a 2.25 ERA. He's averaged more than 7 innings in those starts.

Yankees Taiwan On

Bad puns aside, the Yankees bounced back nicely from Friday night's defeat to win a slugfest on Saturday. Last night was an even more complete game. Pitching, offense, and defense each took their turn in the Yankees 8-2 drubbing of the Mets before a nationally televised audience. The win was the Yankees 11th in their last 12 games, while the Mets have now droppped 7 of 8.

Chien-Ming Wang got the start for the Yankees and was completely dominant. My boy (I'm proud to say I correctly predicted that Wang would have a major impact for the Yankees during spring training in 2005. It's nice to be right now and then.) mixed in his ever more reliable change up with a slider, a great fastball, and his bring-you-to-your-knees hard sinker to strike out a career high 10 batters. And of course he had his ground ball game going as well.

Once The Wanger has the lead he rarely gives it back and Alex Rodriguez gave it to him early last night. Having already allowed a single to Derek Jeter (extending his hitting streak to 12 games), El Duque left a two-out hanger over the plate for A-Rod, who destroys them like a dry cleaners. The blast, his 27th, landed in the back left corners of the visitors bullpen. It was career HR #490 for A-Rod, who has been hitting one tape measure shot after another these days.

The Yankees added two more off of Duque in the 2nd. Miguel Cairo's two-out double to left scored Hideki Matsui, and Cairo came home on Johnny Damon's single. In the 3rd, the Bombers made it 5-0. Bobby Abreu hit a shot into the left field corner that eluded Carlos Gomez for a lead off triple. A-Rod brought him home with a deep sacrifice fly for RBI #73.

Meanwhile, Wang was breezing through the Mets lineup. He didn't allow a hit until Jose Reyes' single in the 4th. But the Yankees quickly erased that one, correctly calling a pitch- Jorge Posada's throw arriving well ahead of a sliding Reyes.

A solo HR by Damon, an Abreu HBP, and a walk to A-Rod finally drove El Duque from the game. An appreciative Yankee Stadium crowd has never forgotten how Orlando Hernandez contributed to 3 World Series championships and gave the fan favorite a nice round of applause.

The Mets finally reached Wang in the 7th when his strike 3 pitch to David Wright bounced well in front of Posada. Instead of the side being retired, Wright reached safely and scored on Carlos Delgado's double to right. With the lead cut to 6-1, Wang retired Jose Valentin on a ground out to quickly snuff out any idea of a rally.

Wang looked even stronger in the 8th, striking out the side. That included a strike 2 swing and miss by Reyes, on a Wang change up, that nearly screwed him into the ground.

The Yankees made sure there would be no doubt about the outcome, when in the 8th A-Rod lined a double to left-center and Posada followed with a line drive home run off of Aaron Heilman into the right field seats. It was Posada's 9th of the season and his 207th as a Yankee.

Wang came within 1 out of a complete game in the 9th before Joe Torre decided that 113 pitches was enough. Ramon Castro doubled and Carlos Beltran singled him home for the Mets 2nd run of the night. But David Wright grounded sharply to A-Rod who started an around the horn double play. That's when Torre opted for Mike Myers. The lefty specialist struck out Delgado looking to end a very enjoyable Sunday night.

~~~

Defense is always an important part of the game, but especially when you have a ground ball pitcher like Wang going. After homering in the 2nd, A-Rod dove to his left on a sharply hit ball by Delgado and threw him out to take away a base hit. In the 6th the Yankees doubled up the lightning fast Reyes as Miguel Cairo turned a sweet 3-6-3 double play, scooping out Jeter's throw as he got back to the 1st Base bag.

Speaking of A-Rod's defense, its been completely overlooked because of the tremendous offensive season he is having. But in case you have noticed, he's been playing an outstanding 3rd Base.

Jeter has gone 19-45 (.422) during his 12 game hitting streak, raising his average from .326 to .342.

Wang is now 6-1 in his last 7 starts with a 2.25 ERA. He's averaged more than 7 innings in those starts.

Get Out Your Tape Measures

It didn't take Alex Rodriguez long, but the ball sure went a long way. A-Rod pounded an El Duque hanger into corner of the Met's bullpen.

Home run #27 for 2007, #491 for all-time.

Oh, and moments later he robbed Carlos Delgado of a base hit.