Photograph of coach Dan Warthen congratulating reliever Billy Wagner for managing the save by Tom Mihalek/AP Mets 10, Phillies 9: Leave it to the Mets to stake Pedro Martinez to a 10-1 lead and then make him sweat it out. Martinez was charged with two runs in 5 1/3 innings, striking out six. He gave up two home runs, but this time they came with no one on base. Things looked rosy when he... [continue]

Photo of (left to right) Alex Rodriguez (AP/Kathy Willens), Derek Jeter (AP/Kathy Willens), Mariano Rivera (AP/Julie Jacobson) and Billy Wagner (AP/Tom Mihalek) With the Mets and Yankees putting forth middling seasons, that only four players total got selected to the July 14 All-Star Game at Yankee Stadium should come as no surprise. Billy Wagner is the lone Mets representative (full NL roster), though he had an interesting way of celebrating. For the Yankees, Derek... [continue]

Photographs of Alex Rodriguez hitting his 536th home run at Yankee Stadium by Kathy Willens/AP Yankees 5, Red Sox 4 (10 innings): Brett Gardner's seeing-eye single in the 10th inning helped the Yankees salvage a split. And, in history-making news, Alex Rodriguez tied Mickey Mantle on the all-time home run list (they both have 536 home runs) with a solo shot. At certain points, the Yankees trailed, 3-1, and 4-2, but a two-run rally... [continue]

Yankees 2, Red Sox 1: Classic games between these teams usually take four hours -- or four hours, 45 minutes -- not 2:58. The Yankees will take this. Mike Mussina spun six scoreless innings before Mariano Rivera wriggled off the hook in the ninth inning. The win came on the heels of two straight losses to open this four-game set. Mussina, whose unexpected successs (11 wins, 3.64 ERA) probably deserves to be on the All-Star... [continue]

Red Sox 6, Yankees 4: If Johnny Damon had caught the ball, things might have turned out differently. With the Yankees leading, 3-1, and two Red Sox on base, Kevin Youkilis lifted a high drive to left field, and Damon appeared to have it in his glove. Then gravity kicked in, Damon returned to Earth, and, after literally hanging on top of the wall, the ball fell to the warning track. That proved to be the turning point. ... [continue]

Back in 1997, the Rangers lost their captain when Mark Messier headed to the Pacific Northwest to play for the Canucks. On Thursday, they brought Vancouver's captain, Markus Naslund to New York with a two-year, $8 million deal. Thanks to the salary cap and other roster considerations, this move means Jaromir Jagr's New York career is over. Rangers general manager Glen Sather sounded like he had gotten tired of waiting for Jagr to decide what... [continue]

If Derek Jeter hadn't made an error that led to two unearned runs being scored in the top of the first, the Yankees still would have lost. That's because the bats, which looked so lively against the Rangers on Wednesday, did nothing against Boston's Jon Lester on Thursday. Jeter's error, the latest downplayed miscue from an aging "shortstop," didn't cost the team the game. Even if he hadn't thrown a ball that should have completed a double play into first-basethe camera well, Andy Pettitte still wouldn't have had his best stuff. This is the first time the teams played after Memorial Day without one of them being in first place since September 2007. The Yanks will need to win two of the next three to avoid falling further behind Boston -- and first-place Tampa Bay.... [continue]

Sidney Ponson, who will soon be forgotten himself, made a start that will be forgotten. That's thanks in part to his ineffectiveness but mostly to the Yanks' offensive explosion spearheaded by Jason Giambi (grand slam, six RBIs) and Alex Rodriguez (homer, three RBIs, four runs scored). Every Yankees starter had a hit. That includes Brett Gardner, who could be the new center fielder if Melky Cabrera continues his sour play. Ponson, picked up as a stopgap measure, was barely decent -- but fully clothed -- until the sixth inning, when he allowed a pair of two-run home runs. But then the Yankees exploded for a nine-run seventh. ... [continue]

Photograph of Carlos Delgado leaping for an errant throw from David Wright and trying to tag Alex Rodriguez out (but A-Rod was ruled safe) by Julie Jacobson/AP Yankees 3, Mets 2: Andy Pettitte pitched through a rain delay, and Johan Santana couldn't pitch through another meager output from the Mets bats. Pettitte came out after a 53-minute rain delay and gave up a solo homer to David Wright. But that only made the game... [continue]

Photograph of Jerry Manuel arguing with home plate umpire Brian Runge, who then threw Manuel out of the game, by Julie Jacobson/AP Mariners 11, Mets 0: Yes, the Mets are on the verge of being swept by the worst team in baseball. Seattle rocked Mets starter Oliver Perez for six runs in five innings and the Mets looked lost against Mariners knuckleballer R.A. Dickey. To be fair, they would look lost against a slow-pitch... [continue]

Photograph of the Mets' second baseman Luis Castillo resting his head against the dugout rail during the eighth inning by David Zalubowski/AP Rockies 7, Mets 1: Everything was fun and games in this one until a sixth-run Colorado fifth. Pedro Martinez gave up all of those runs. He started by allowing two solo home runs, then gave up a double, single, single, double. There was a strikeout thrown in there, but it clearly didn't... [continue]

Willie Randolph, who went from being perceived as terse and incompetent to bloodied scapegoat in the matter of three or four days, tells the story Friday of his midnight firing in an article in the Daily News. In it, he says how stunned he was when Mets general manager Omar Minaya told him the bad news in the Anaheim hotel. He also gives a blow-by-blow account of how it happened. When Minaya started talking to... [continue]

Yankees 2, Padres 1: If Joba Chamberlain weren't in the rotation right now, Dan Giese, owner of 0 big-league starts, would be the team's fourth starter. Instead, Chamberlain is striking out nine Padres -- yes, they still count -- and helping the team win its seventh straight. Alex Rodriguez -- still not clutch -- got the go-ahead single in the sixth inning. Jose Veras picked up the win in relief, but Chamberlain was the pitching... [continue]

Yankees 8, Padres 0: One day after getting devastating news about Chien-Ming Wang, the Yankees pounded the Padres to continue their domination of the Pacific Coast National League. Andy Pettitte, who put forth a second straight dominant outing got plenty of help, including two homers from Jason Giambi and a bomb to center field from Alex Rodriguez. A few words on Giambi, who was written off for dead: He has unbelievable numbers since May 1.... [continue]

Mets 7, Rangers 1: With the rumors swirling about Willie Randolph's job, the Mets manager got help from an unlikely source. Oliver Perez threw seven innings of one-run ball -- against the best offense in the American League -- and the Mets got to talk about a win rather than why they appear to stink. An early lead was blown open when they scored four in the six. Perez's own RBI single capped the rally.... [continue]

Two and a half weeks ago, Willie Randolph appeared to be on the precipice of being fired. The Mets, especially general manager Omar Minaya stood by him, and Randolph lived another day. Now, another poor stretch of play has prompted perhaps the strongest rumors yet. If SI.com's Jon Heyman is correct, and his sources are usually reliable, Randolph -- and half his coaching staff -- could be gone by the end of the weekend. Unfortunately... [continue]

Photographs of the Diamondbacks' Chris Young (left) hitting a ninth inning RBI double off Mets reliever Billy Wagner (right) by Kathy Willens/AP Diamondbacks 5, Mets 4: This one's on Billy Wagner, whose summation above says it all. Johan Santana pitched seven scoreless innings. Ramon Castro went deep and scored another run. David Wright had an RBI double. Joe Smith gave up two runs in the eighth, but Wagner entered the ninth with his team... [continue]

Photograph of Carlos Beltran ducking his head away from blowing dirt and debris during the 7th inning (the game was briefly suspended shortly after) by Julie Jacobson/AP Diamondbacks 9, Mets 5: Despite starting off the game in nearly perfect fashion, the Mets still found a way to end it in an undesirable way. Carlos Delgado (two-run single) and David Wright (two-run homer) helped stake John Maine to a 5-1 lead after two innings. But... [continue]

At least he has his ten-table ring: photo of Michael Strahan showing off his Super Bowl ring and the Lombardi Trophy by AP/Jason DeCrow Saving his team plenty of uncertainty and resulting annoyance, Michael Strahan reportedly announced his retirement Monday. That means the team and the media are saved another dance in which the player hems and haws as he tries to avoid training camp while still collecting a high salary. Now, the Giants... [continue]

Yankees 12, Royals 11: Coming up six times in a nine-inning game is tough enough. Getting a hit in each of those at-bats is almost unheard of. Johnny Damon did just that, however, tying an American League record for a nine-inning game and matching a Yankees record for most in any game. His sixth hit was the sweetest, as it was a line-drive single in the bottom of the ninth that plated Wilson Betemit for... [continue]